The Court of Cocalus
by Otoshigo
Summary: Sequel to 'Wings of Wax'. Alfred, vampire, has decided to return to the Watchers after fifty years in exile and finds that things have not changed for the better. Now he has to navigate through increasingly dangerous waters, while on a long-shot mission that could save Arthur's soul or destroy him forever.
1. Chapter 1

"God, you're insane, how can you wear this stuff in this heat?" Alfred whined, wishing he could peel off the Watcher body armor that encased him. Even after fifty years, the Watcher uniform still fit to his tall and deceptively gangly body perfectly, molded especially for him with enchantments scrawled inside to defend his own unique nature. However, he wriggled like a worm, trying to make himself more comfortable against the sticky leather seats. Above them, the hot Texan sun beat down on the earth, making the very air seem to boil, the dirt burn and cacti pop with pressure. Even within the confines of a tinted, air conditioned limo, a vampire certainly had their limits. Especially in _red and black formfitted body armor._

"You get used to it," Arthur replied serenely, his gaze cast out the windows and to the bleak Texan desert that sped by at hundreds of miles per hour. The vampire didn't believe him for a second. He could _see_ the Brit sweating underneath his own custom body armor. In fact, his face had already sunburnt on their brief stint in Japan to take care of their dying friend, whose ashes now lay tucked away in Alfred's bag, along with the passcon that was the entire reason that the vampire decided to return.

With a start, Alfred realized the Brit wasn't watching the scenery. He was watching _him,_ his eyes bright and intense. Alfred grit his teeth and met his gaze squarely and unapologetically. Even so, he shuddered. Remembering again why he'd left. Remembering what this man could do to him. _Had_ done to him. After a long beat, Arthur flushed and turned his gaze to the window again. Taking a breath, Alfred turned his own gaze out the windows at the place that had once been home to him.

Global warming hadn't exactly done Texas any favors and it was even more desolate than the vampire remembered. Not a house, no animals, no utility poles. It was like civilization had given up on it. The only signs of life came in the form of automated checkpoints as they sped along the super highway. Back to Watcher HQ. The thought made the vampire's very insides turn into jelly, especially when he felt so hot and steamy, like he was literally crawling into the belly of the beast.

No, the Watchers were certainly not the awkwardly amateurish secret club they started out as one hundred years ago.

"We're nearly there," Arthur announced as they passed another checkpoint, nodding off into the distance. An enormous bring metallic structure loomed off in the distance, shining like a diamond in the desert sun. Alfred squinted at it, watching it rapidly growing bigger and bigger at the speed at which they were traveling. It was like watching a marshmallow expand in the microwave. Soon, it was looming over them, several impossibly large buildings connected through multitudes of different skywalks so that no one had to brave the heat. It was the size of a small _city._

"Holy shit," Alfred said as his head craned up and up, making his neck creak from the strain.

Mistaking the vampire's horror for awe, Arthur puffed up in pride. "It's expanded quite a bit while you've been away. We call it the Daedalus Campus now. It's completely self-sustaining. The buildings are covered in solar panels, which draw a considerable amount of energy. The rest is made up by the nearby wind farm. We also have a biodome now where we get all our food. Naturally, we still need to contract out for materials for R&D, but otherwise we're ready for the end of the world."

With a chill, Alfred realized that Arthur wasn't kidding.

The limo pulled down into an underground garage, the complex showing the first signs of life as someone in a spiffy black uniform with red trim stood by to open the door for the pair of them. "Sir, welcome back," he greeted, " the council meeting has been rescheduled to six."

"And everything else has been arranged?" Arthur asked as he reached out a hand to help Alfred out. Like a princess. Alfred ignored it, getting a twitch from the Brit.

"As ordered," the grunt replied, giving Alfred a strange look as his facial recognition popped up on his visor. "Agent Estonia. Welcome back. I trust your mission was a success?"

His _what_ now? Exactly what did Arthur tell everyone he was up to? "Um, yeah, sure. Yup," Alfred said, tripping over Arthur's fib like a stray branch. "It was an awesome mission. Good stuff."

Arthur coughed behind his hand, trying to cover his laugh. Somehow, this drew even more attention from the grunt than Alfred himself. Alfred just tried not to grimace. Agent Estonia was a name that Arthur had playfully tagged him with when he was still with the Watchers, working with them as they slowly became the surveillance powerhouse it was now. Now, Alfred hated it. It just reminded him of the best and worst times of his life.

"We should get going. Alfred, follow me," Arthur said, waving the vampire towards the elevators. Alfred took a long breath, heaving his backpack over his shoulder. Arthur glanced over to him out of the corner of his eye, their elevator ride short but thick with tension.

"Welcome back," the Watcher murmured softly as the doors _swooshed_ open. Alfred was almost blinded by the light, streaming in from the multistory tinted windows along the side of the building, broken up only by the enormous solar panels and a huge semi-opaque banner. Stark red and black with the **W** logo along with the harsh words beneath **BE VIGILANT**. On the other side of the hall were stories of honeycomb glass offices, the activity within like watching bees bustle about. On the ground level, people in uniform swarmed all around them like red and black ants, looking terribly important and busy as they headed to work. Though Alfred wondered how much of that had to do with Arthur's presence. It all looked too pristine and a little freaky, like something out of a weird dystopian sci-fi movie.

Thankfully, Arthur didn't seem to have any kind of entourage, though that seemed to make it entirely more obvious that the vampire was out of place. All the eyes on them suddenly made Alfred feel like target practice, their visors blipping every time his unfamiliar face popped up. Identifying him by the Agent Estonia moniker. Stuff of urban legend, it seemed, from the looks on their faces.

Not to mention, there were so _many_ people now, all of their hearts beating so deliciously, thrumming all around him like a literal buffet. His hand reached out to tightly grip Arthur's own, making the immortal wince. However, he didn't complain, letting the vampire focus on him. Thankfully, people parted in front of them like a wave. If they had bumped into anyone, Alfred was not sure what would have happened.

Arthur led the pair of them down to a more isolated wing, security doubling and tripling. Thankfully, there was only one security guard, which Alfred could handle - in all meanings of the word. The locks he was going to have to hack into as soon as he could, in case Arthur ever decided to _turn the key._

"Where are we going?" he asked, finally trusting himself to speak after they went through their _third_ hydro-locking gate. He had a sinking feeling what Arthur was going to answer, right before the Watcher confirmed it.

"Your quarters, of course," Arthur replied nonchalantly. "You _did_ ask for a lab off grid," he reminded the vampire, his tone almost chiding. "The only ones I have are particularly isolated for security purposes. There's also a room for you in here, so you could stay nearby your work. And so you do not need to worry about being so close to the main residences and dormitories."

Alfred leveled him a look. "Meanwhile, keeping me in a prison."

"Not a _prison,_ " Arthur scoffed. "You're free to leave whenever you like. Although you don't _need_ to. Everything you requested is right here. You could bunker down and never leave," he said as he made a grand gesture over to the brightly lit, white lab as they approached.

The vampire stared at him. "Arthur, what's that on your shoulder," he said, pointing just beside the Brit's ear. When Arthur whirled around, Alfred snickered out loud. "Oh! Never mind, it was just your paranoia showing."

Spinning back around, Arthur fumed. "That is _not_ funny, Alfred."

"Yeah, not really," Alfred agreed, sweeping into his new lab to inspect all the equipment. Most of it really wasn't in his wheelhouse. Then again, neither was nanotech. He'd have to spend a good amount of time just researching the mechanics. What if he could just _hack_ nanites? That might make his life easier.

Standing by in silence as he watched the vampire float through the lab, Arthur anxiously fiddled with his sleeve. "Everything's off grid, as requested," he said suddenly. "Save for the computer terminal nearest the door. It's already been configured to your biometrics. You'll be able to research or order whatever you need there. Do you... do you like it?" he asked, drawing Alfred's attention back to him. Arthur looked so nervous that it almost drew a smile.

"Mmm, needs some paint," the vampire decided with a nod, "but it'll do. What about my room? And food?"

"Ah, this way," Arthur replied and led Alfred down just a door away from the lab. He touched his hand to a black pad and waited for the metal door to hiss and unlock. Inside was a rather cozy little apartment fit with many of the same trappings as his old digs in the brownstone basement. A bed, couch, TV, a personal computer, a bathroom and fridge. What was more surprising was the sunny beach landscape through the enormous wall to wall windows, complete with the sound of waves and the wind rustling through the palm trees.

"Fake?" Alfred asked rhetorically, pointing to the scene. Great, what better way to make sure that he never burned by keeping him in a prison with a fake sun?

"You can change it to whatever you like," Arthur responded, not sensing Alfred's cynical jibe. Then he called out to the room. "Windows: New York City Skyline."

Immediately, the beach scene changed, switching from the serene beach to the noisy metropolis that Alfred used to call home. Arthur looked to him for approval. The sight of New York made his heart ache to see it. He wasn't ready for it yet. "Windows: Machu Picchu." The scene changed again, turning to an elevated view of the ancient ruins.

Arthur pursed his lips, but didn't say anything. Instead he gestured to the fridge. "Blood bags are in there." The vampire dashed straight for it and wrenched the door open. There were tens of them, all bright and delicious and waiting for be devoured. Alfred lunged for them sucking down several bags before Arthur could even blink.

"...did you starve while you were away?" Arthur asked, both eyebrows raised as he seated himself at a table. One thing the vampire noticed. He was never gone, just 'away.'

"Nn-un," Alfred replied as he sucked down another blood pack. "Synthetic. You know, the clear fake stuff. It was _awful_ , but it did the job."

"Oh? How is it different from blood from a bag?" Arthur asked, genuinely curious and a little concerned at how quickly the blood was going.

The vampire had to pause and think at that one. It had been a long time since he'd eaten human food to be making comparisons. "Well, s'like, think of this stuff as a hamburger," Alfred said, holding up a bag. "And straight from the vein is like the most delicious steak you've ever had in your life. With crack on top."

"And synthetic?"

"Like... Those little marshmallow candies that look like hamburgers," Alfred said as he pulled a face. "At first it tastes great. Then it takes a shit ton of them to make you feel less hungry and then you just sort of feel sick afterwards."

"Ah." Arthur watched as Alfred continued his binge. "So... Do you want me to find you some prey to feed on? I could, if you wanted..."

Alfred stopped dead. His eyes wide as he turned them up to stare at the Watcher. _How_ could he possibly even suggest that? After all that they'd been through because of his addiction. How was it suddenly _okay_ to feed his murderous impulses? Then again, Arthur was a hundred years immortal now. Maybe human life had less meaning to him.

Realizing that Arthur was waiting for a response, Alfred replied, "N-no, I don't want that. Please don't offer again. Not ever." Even after all this time, it was more difficult to turn down than he'd liked. Still, he was a hundred years clean and he wasn't about to break his streak.

"Alright," the Watcher replied, a small, warm smile spreading over his lips. As if he hadn't just offered up a sacrificial lamb to a vampire's bloodlust. "Do let me know if there's anything else you need. I tried to anticipate your needs, but I'm sure I missed something," he fussed, going back to wringing his wrists. It just made him look so _normal._ It was hard to remember that he'd turned into some personality cult overlord.

"I missed you," Arthur said suddenly. "I worried about you. If you were eating right, if you were doing well, who you were with..."

"I was fine," Alfred replied curtly. That's right, tamp down on those racing nerves. Keep it short. Maybe Arthur would just _go away_ and leave him a little bit of time to process all this.

"Ah, yes. I see that now," Arthur responded, turning a bit sheepish. "I'm still glad you're back. What... What did you do? While you were away?"

Recognizing he wasn't about to get rid of the Brit so easily, Alfred settled his bag down and pulled out Kiku's urn, placing it carefully in the middle of a table. His passcon was in there too, but Alfred was careful to keep that hidden. However, the urn of ashes had the desired effect, making Arthur incredibly uncomfortable upon sight of it. "Traveled," he said, carefully adjusting the urn and watching Arthur's expression twist with each little movement.

Realizing that Alfred wasn't going to elaborate, Arthur still tried to press the small talk. "And... This project you're working on, what is it about...?"

"Nanotechnology," Alfred replied, not seeing a reason to lie. Just omit. "Not really something I can do easily out of somebody's garage."

Arthur gave him a queer look. "I didn't realize you had an interest in that sort of thing," his eyes fixed on Kiku's urn as Alfred kept turning it. "Alfred, will you _stop that?_ You're going to tip it over."

"Is that an order?" the vampire asked in a low and dangerous voice, making Arthur immediately backtrack. It wasn't framed in a way to make his Collar react, but it was too close for comfort.

"No! No, it's not," Arthur sputtered quickly. Defeated, he got up from his chair. "I- look, I'll just leave you to settle in then. Please let me know if you need anything." He gave Alfred an entreating look, "Could I... hug you?"

Alfred kept himself from swallowing against the lump formed in his throat, feeling his nerves turn even more jittery. He was walking a very fine, almost microscopic, line doing all this. Coming back here, putting his liberty on the line, tempted by everything that Arthur offered.

Lying to him, _again._ He had better reasons this time. He had no idea how Arthur would react or if anything would even come of his research. Better later when he had some certainties under his belt. And if he ever spilled to anyone, Arthur would be the first and only. No one else needed to know about something that could possibly _kill_ the immortal.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling of terrible foreboding as Arthur strode over to sweep him up into a tight and warm and familiar embrace.

"I'll leave you to it then," Arthur said as he pulled away and gave the vampire a smile. "If you need anything there's a phone. The operator will patch you directly to me. And... if you feel inclined to stay with me, I'll..." He made an awkward gesture and then seemed to think better of it. "U-um, right there's a phone. Just- anything-" he said as his cheeks heated up. "W-well, I'll see you. Visit, I mean, right."

Wow, this was sort of painful to watch. "I'll call," Alfred promised, just to make the awkward word vomit stop. "See you later."

"Right," Arthur said with relief. Then he turned heel and left, before he could embarrass himself even more.

Once he was gone, Alfred let out an enormous sigh of relief and fell back into his chair. Being around Arthur made his head spin with confliction. However, now in the deadly quiet of his rooms, his panic slowly began to bubble up like magma.

He was in a cell. An unlocked cell, but one that Arthur could turn the key and trap him in if he was ever so inclined. It's not like there wasn't a _precedent_. He closed his eyes, running his hands over his face as he tried to make his racing nerves still. "C'mon, just- calm down. _Calm down._ You can break out of any prison," he told himself. "Almost any prison. Except the one he made inside your own head."

...Wait, that didn't actually make him feel any better.

The hell did he get himself into? Why didn't he think this through? He didn't even know what he was doing!

No, no, no. Not going to think about it. Not going to think about it.

Deciding it was better if he try to distract himself, Alfred turned over to his only companion. "Well, Kiku. It's just you and me now. Time to fix Arthur," he told the urn shakily. He pulled out the wood-paneled passcon and opened it up to look at his friend's life's work. All in perfectly incomprehensible handwritten Japanese and supernatural gibberish.

 _Arthur is just a void in space-time. A visual projection over a chasm of nothing._ That had been Kiku's theory. The vampire was not convinced. The Brit was here and _real._ He could touch Arthur, hear him speak, make him react, make him bleed. However, there were definitely a lot of things _not right_ and they hadn't been for years. The inability to dream, to do magic, to create beautiful worlds in his mind. It was like part of his soul had been severed away from him. It was like he had become less than human. And whatever it was seemed to make him impervious to reality.

However, what Alfred learned in Japan was that electromagnetic-inhibiting nanites could do _something_ to him. Alfred had no idea _what_ , other than make the immortal conk out for longer than it took a straight hit from a missile to keep him down. They could alter his state of being somehow.

So here he was on a potential suicide mission trying to get his lover back.

With science.

Except he wasn't a scientist, damn it! He was a hundreds year old vampire hacker. This was _not_ his thing. ...But he couldn't just _not_ investigate. As much as Arthur claimed Alfred was his weakness, Alfred knew that it was mutual, much as he didn't want it to be the case.

Trying to stave off another wave of uncertainty, Alfred focused on taking just one step at a time. And the first thing was to try to get around the Japanese...

He pulled out his wrist console and plugged it into a port. "Alright, auto-translate," he ordered, waving his hands like a wizard. The pages whirred, blinking with a bunch of bizarre symbols, before a giant error message popped up.

 **Error: Translation Overload  
Unknown Symbols Detected**

"Aw, damn it!" Alfred hissed, smacking the wooden side of the computer, "can't you tell the difference between Japanese and alien drawings!"

 **Error: Translation Overload**

Fuck, this was going to take much longer than he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Alfred spent the next two weeks getting situated in his new digs. Everything was brand new and state of the art. Comfortable.

However, there wasn't a single soul around. Sure, it had only been a couple weeks since he'd arrived at Daedalus. But there was _no one_ in his wing. Boxes of blood were delivered to the second lock and there were laundry and garbage chutes to chuck his things. If he wanted, he could stay here for a decade and not see anyone. Alfred was half tempted to find a ball called Wilson to keep him company.

By the end of the fortnight, he was starting to go a little stir crazy.

"Kiku, why do you write in Japanese!" he demanded of the urn, feeling his brain beginning to fizzle as he copied the scribbling by hand as he tried to decipher Japanese from ancient drawings. The only way he could see a way around the error was to do a separate translation, which involved copying a century's worth of notes. The urn, sitting pretty on top of his lab table, said nothing. _Completely_ unrepentant. "Yeah, you do your silent thing. You're good at that."

A pause.

"Holy shit, I have to get out of here," Alfred groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. He didn't even have _video games_ to distract him. Video games! How could Arthur have forgotten _that_ little detail?

Well, he had promised Arthur he would call if he needed anything...

Then again Arthur also promised he would visit, which he _hadn't._ It peeved Alfred to no end, since he was just left hanging in anticipation for something he didn't even _want._

Alfred slapped his hands on the table. "Alright, I'm going to be social. I can be social, right, Kiku?" Silence. "Yeah, that's right. Thanks bud." He hopped off his chair, bringing his notes and the passcon back with him to his room, hiding them back away underneath his bed. Changing into his body armor, Alfred sucked down a couple packs of blood and made himself pretty for public.

Okay. Alright, he could do this.

Pulling his shoulders back, he headed out of the doors and out through the triple hydro-locks and his robot-like security guard. He didn't dare talk to her, trying to make it seem like he actually knew where he was going and not like he was trying to sneak out. It was only when he reached the main hall that he slowed to get his bearings. Thankfully, it was generally quiet out in the vast glass hall, most people having already started their work day. His Want was far less distracting with just the few people milling around. His eyes trailed up to the ceiling, wondering exactly how many people fit in all those offices.

Not looking where he was going, he nearly jumped when he bumped (literally) into his first Normal. Just a regular grunt. Nothing special. Except the girl nearly had a heart attack when she saw him. "Oh! Agent Estonia! A-ah, I didn't- I'm sorry!" she said, before ducking away as quick as she could.

Jesus, he was going to get rid of this Estonia handle if it killed him.

"Alfred!" he called after her. "It's Alfred, damn it!"

Oh well, that went well. Sighing, Alfred went up to the nearest security grunt and asked, "Hey, do you know where Arthur is?" The man gave him a blank look. "Y'know, the Final Boss. Big Cheese."

"...Big Cheese, sir?" the man said slowly.

"Where is Commander Kirkland's office?" Alfred asked with a heave of exasperation.

After several more instances of getting stonewalled by pure ignorance, Alfred finally made it to the very corporate-like offices of the new Watchers. It was amazing how the bright glass walls managed to show everything and nothing all at once. He came up to the secretary and waved. "Ah, hi. I'm looking for Arthur. Arthur Kirkland. Is he in?"

"Oh!" the secretary said and looked slightly panicked as he checked something on his screen. "Agent Estonia. Yes, the Commander's in. Let's see... you have full access, but he's in a meeting right now. Is there anything that I could do for you instead?"

"Well first, please stop calling me Agent Estonia. Just- Alfred's fine. Can I-? I'm just going to go in," Alfred decided and opened the door past the fretting assistant into the glass walled offices. Finding Arthur was a little like walking through a funhouse of mirrors, but eventually Alfred found the Brit holed up in a conference room. It was filled with some rather stern looking people, who all looked mildly alarmed at his intrusion. Not the least of which was Arthur at the head of the table, whose eyes went as wide as an owl at the vampire's sudden presence.

"Hey," he waved as he entered, feeling his stomach drop to his feet. What exactly had he just walked into? Judging from the high-ranking uniforms of the people involved, he had a pretty educated guess. "Sorry, don't mind me."

"Alfred..." Arthur called. Then he recovered and snapped his fingers at the person on his right to move. "Why don't you come over here and sit by me." He patted the hastily vacated seat. "We were just going over some new security contracts for the Tehran civil war."

Alfred stared. "C-civil..." he started, not quite comprehending what the Brit had just said. Civil war? They were involved in civil wars now?! When did that happen?! He was only so glad he was already a corpse to hide how pale he felt. He just came up for _video games._

But... he wanted to know. He _needed_ to know how bad things had gotten while he was gone.

"I'll sit in," he decided against his better judgement, taking a seat beside Arthur. The immortal softly beamed at him, before his expression cooled and he waved for the meeting to proceed.

Alfred felt so uneasy, he almost didn't notice the glances from the others at the table. Confused, concerned, wary, and curious. Right, no one knew him now. It _had_ been fifty years. This was the next generation (and a half) of Watchers. All he had left was his reputation, which it seemed that Arthur had carefully safeguarded and cultivated for him.

Beholden to continue, one of the officers started up again. "Well, to recap briefly, we have the choice of the contract hit on the President and the extermination of the rebel camps. The hit would be easy to do and easy to mess up. We would have to find someone not at all connected to us to keep us from getting any blowback. For the rebel camps, it would take far more effort, but we'd have sovereignty backing us up."

"Killing the president would highly destabilize the region," another Watcher said, a redheaded woman this time.

"It's destabilized already, how much worse can it get?" someone else retorted with a laugh and it seemed that Alfred's presence was more or less forgotten. He stayed quiet, as stonily silent as Arthur as they watched the debate.

"I think we're forgetting about one thing. Pay. The rebels don't have nearly the funds that the President does."

"Yes, but looking at it in terms of cost-effectiveness, we'd be taking higher pay only to be involved in a much more protracted effort. Kill the President and we're one and done. We need to consider our resources."

"How much effort would it be really? The rebels are mostly armed women and children. Soon as we find them, we just bomb the shit out of them."

 _Wrong... this is all wrong..._ Alfred thought, his shaking hands clenching underneath the table. This was a den of monsters. He almost didn't hear the man beside him speak, if not for the fact that everyone went quiet.

"If I am not mistaken, the President has all the oil holdings in the region, does he not?" the Brit asked, idly flipping through the information on the holo-screen in front of him.

"Yessir," the redhead replied.

"I want them," Arthur said as easily as one ordered a diet soda for lunch. "Find a way to get them. Renegotiate with both sides to see what we can do about it. To be perfectly clear, I want _all_ of them."

"Yessir," came the robotic chorus.

"Good," Arthur said with a satisfied nod. "I expect an update by the end of the day tomorrow. Now, let's move onto..." he tapped the agenda in front of them, "the Shellco wiretaps. How many wishes is he at now with his Djinn. Yards, update?"

Thus it proceeded for another two horrendous hours.

After the meeting was over and everyone went off to their respective offices, the vampire slumped over bonelessly in his seat. Alfred felt like he'd just had his soul spliced just listening in. He felt nauseous, his stomach roiling after all the talk of underground politics and collateral damage.

 _Lesson of the day: How much a human life is worth in dollar signs._

"Alfred?" he heard Arthur call. He flinched as the Brit's hand touched his shoulder. For the first time in two hours, the immortal didn't sound so inhumanly callous. He turned his eyes to the side, meeting Arthur's bright green worried gaze. "Alfred, maybe you shouldn't come to any more talks like this. Why don't you just call ahead next time? I'll be happy to postpone anything for you," Arthur said in a hushed and concerned voice. "It's alright. You're too good a person for this sort of talk."

Alfred said nothing, closing his eyes as he tried to breathe to calm himself down.

"Was there something you needed?" Arthur asked instead for want of a change in subject, anxiously fussing and fretting. "I hardly think you came up out of your hole to listen to all this. Was it some companionship? It's quiet down there, I know. I didn't know if you wanted anyone to disturb you."

Alfred swallowed thickly against his bile. "I... I just wanted to see... Arthur, you _know_ this is all wrong, don't you? Contract killings, illegal surveillance, private security. What the fuck!"

"Alfred, it's... a necessary evil," Arthur replied softly, gently cupping Alfred's face. "I'm trying to save the world. Sometimes we need to get our hands dirty to obtain that goal. That doesn't mean you need to be involved." Alfred didn't have the stomach to reply. So Arthur went on, growing more fretful by the minute, "W-would you like to spend the night with me? I promise, no more talk of this unpleasant business. Just... the two of us. That's nice, isn't it?"

The vampire honestly wanted to cry. Why was this Arthur so different? Why was he so much like his writer? How could he turn into a cold-blooded sociopath at the flip of a coin? "No..." he replied with a shake of his head.

"Alfred, you honestly caught us at the wrong time," Arthur pressed, growing panicked at Alfred's despondency. "Next time we have a meeting about our main Mission, I'll make sure you're included. We do plenty of humanitarian and peacekeeping work as well. Alfred, please? Say something..."

"I... wanted... I wanted video games..." Alfred said slowly. Though now the thought of blowing a few heads off of people just made him feel ill.

"Then you'll have them," the Brit said softly. "I apologize, I didn't account for your need for distraction. I should have known. You must have been working quite hard to have gone so long without wanting them," he added, his lips pulling into a tentative smile. "Have you made any breakthroughs?"

"Not really," Alfred replied, allowing his mind to be drawn away from the horrors he'd listened to in this pristine glass room. "I haven't even gotten around to starting on the basics."

Arthur let out a soft hum. "Would some instruction be helpful?" he offered. "You are switching to an entirely different field than your expertise. Perhaps you could work with someone in our robotics division. I'm sure I could find you a mentor."

Alfred made a noncommittal noise in response.

"Well, think about it," Arthur said gently. "In the meantime, I'll get you those video games. And I'll schedule you in for our next Water day. I don't mind you being involved, Love. It would be good to have someone else as long lived invested in this. No one else seems to be able to see the big picture with the same perspective as you or I."

The vampire's stomach twisted. He didn't want to be involved. He _didn't._ Even if he did believe in part of Arthur's cause. It had been why he'd ignored so much of the shady shit that had been going on even before he left. It was why he just didn't have the heartfelt conviction to do any real damage to the Watchers, even when he'd spent the last fifty years running from them. He was still drinking the Koolaid.

But this. It was just _wrong._

How had things gotten so bad? If he had stayed, would things have been different? Would they have just stuck to surveillance and espionage instead of engaging in full on conflict?

 _Take it slow. To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping._

Kiku, again. Alfred took a long breath, trying to adhere to his friend's advice. "M-maybe the space stuff instead," he said after a pause, trying desperately to stick to his plan of keeping Arthur close, but not too close. "Or have you thought about trying to use nanotech to rebuild the ozone layer? Like rebuilding all the ozone particles?"

Arthur's eyes widened. "I... No. No, we haven't." A broad smile spread across his lips up to his eyes and he grabbed Alfred's shoulders. "Alfred, that's absolutely brilliant! I could kiss you! I'll have our R&D start on that right away! Oh, no, you should be involved. It was your idea. I'll get you situated in-"

His words cut short as Alfred pressed a kiss to his lips. With a muffled noise, the Brit melted into it like warm honey, his arms coming to wrap around Alfred's shoulders. When he needed breath, he pulled back, flushed, "Ah... what was... N-not that I'm complaining."

"I... you said you could kiss me- and I was just- I thought you were asking permission," Alfred stammered, not quite sure what he had been thinking himself. His thoughts were a whirlwind, caught between trying to get close, trying to stay away, trying to save and destroy at the same time. "I'm just... so confused..."

"It's alright..." the immortal hushed gently, pressing a chaste kiss to Alfred's brow. "It really is. I'd rather we not rush anything rather than risk you running away again. We will take this very, very slowly, alright, love? There's no need to rush. We have all the time in the world..."

Alfred nodded reluctantly, while Arthur's fingers gently rubbed circles in his scalp. It felt wonderful in a way that made the vampire feel vile.

"Alfred, you haven't gotten a proper tour of the place yet, have you?" the Brit asked after a moment of silent comforting. "I'll be happy to show you around. In fact, I'll arrange things in robotics first, so I'll introduce you to the people you'll be working with. Would that be alright? Perhaps in the next couple of days?"

"Yeah... yeah, sure..." Alfred replied, pushing himself out of Arthur's grip and up to his feet. "I think I'll see myself back. See you." He turned heel and tried not to sprint out of the glass room, speeding past the secretary who just spouted cheerful drivel at him. His head pounded, trying to straighten out the mess. He'd come back impulsively without a game plan, and now it was kicking him in the ass.

His only purpose had been to turn Arthur back to the way he was. But what if the Watcher was no longer even worth saving? Did immortality even do this to him or did he always have the potential for such _evil?_

Only one hope cut through the mire of uncertainties and doubts that plagued him as he stared up at his bedroom ceiling.

If Arthur could dream again, he'd have nightmares about what he was doing. Maybe that would be enough.

In the meantime, he was going to do what he should have done from the start.

He was going to have to keep a closer eye on them.

 _Virus it is,_ Alfred thought, pulling out his wrist console to code up some trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alfred?"

A moan and a shake. The bed felt so nice and _warm._

"Alfred, will you _wake up._ "

The vampire suddenly snorted awake, blinking blearily up at the fuzzy shape above him. He froze, his eyes wide as they met bright green. "A-Arthur! What are you doing in here?!" he snapped, scuttling up to a sit and pressing himself against the wall. He did a quick look around, making sure he was still in his room (and that the passcon was safely tucked away). "I thought I told you not to come in here without knocking!"

Arthur frowned at him, his hands on his hips. "This again? And you were so sweet yesterday too," he said and heaved a sigh. "Don't worry, I'm not here for a _booty call._ I was going to give you a tour and get you settled in the robotics lab. And it's already _ten in the morning_ ," he added reproachfully.

"I'm a _vampire,_ " Alfred shot back nastily. "We sleep during the day. It's what we do." Feeling a little calmer, he brushed his hands through his hair, trying to tame his bedhead. To be fair, he hadn't really done much nightwalking for a century, which accounted for the immortal's snort and roll of his eyes. What had really kept him up were nightmares. Not that he was about to tell Arthur that. Particularly because most related to _him._

"Love, you know you're the most atypical vampire there is. So no excuses. Get-" he stopped himself short, just as the Collar yanked in warning on Alfred's soul. "Ah- ah, I mean- Please, get up," he added quickly, his face white. "I didn't- That didn't take, did it?"

"Nearly," Alfred hissed, touching a clawed hand to his throat as a growl rippled from him. "I think you had better wait outside." His tone brooked no argument and Arthur was quick to flee the room like a scolded child. Only when he was gone did the vampire relax, slumping back against the bed as he rubbed against his neck. He took a long breath, closing his eyes. That had been too close. Thank God, Arthur didn't think it was privilege to bark orders around at him yet. Though that could change any given second.

 _Proceed with Caution._

Right. He couldn't alienate Arthur too much. Or else he might get it in his head that he didn't have a choice _but_ to order him around. Ugh, why was this all so complicated?

Hoping that having someone be able to teach him about nanotechnology would make things easier, Alfred changed into a looser, cloth-version of the Watcher uniform. Simple black slacks and a bright red tunic. It looked eerily like the old uniforms of the Buckingham palace guard. He wondered if that was what Arthur was going for. Then decided: Yes, yes, it probably was. _Guh_...

Arthur looked properly chagrined when the annoyed vampire stepped out, giving Alfred an apologetic look. "Please don't hold that against me," he said softly. "It's been a long time since I've needed to watch my words."

"It's fine," Alfred said with a forced smile as his stomach bubbled with anger. "Just a mistake. Now, tour, right?"

Satisfied, the Brit nodded. "Ah yes. Please follow me. I'll show you around the different offices," he said as he led the way through the hydro-locks. "Since you've been gone, we've divided our operations into much more defined groups: Administration, Environment, Security and R&D. I'll take you to the heads of each department, but ultimately everyone reports to me."

 _Yes, supreme leader,_ Alfred thought, then frowned. _...Wait a second._

"What about supernatural stuff?" he asked, his brow knitting further in confusion. "Y'know, vampires, werewolves, poltergeists. The stuff that the Watchers actually _do_?" He stopped short as Arthur pressed a hand to his chest.

"We don't advertise that anymore," he said in a low voice. "But don't worry, it's not being overlooked." A sharp smile edged the corners of his lips and his eyes glittered in a way that made ice run through Alfred's veins. "I oversee that personally."

Alfred swallowed thickly, wondering _how_ he was supposed to address the second part of his research. Figuring out what Arthur was and how to fix it. However, he nodded, deciding it was better to keep a lid on it for now. "Alright, sure. So... Where to first?"

It turned out the campus was so enormous it took hours to cover everything. Hopping from building to building, Alfred was introduced and welcomed by each department head like a reluctant member of the Inner Circle. No one said anything about his unique nature, but he could see the way that they glanced over his ashy complexion and towards the flash of his fangs, that they all knew all about him. That it was the worst kept secret ever. Was that how Arthur got away with being immortal here? Was that why no one questioned the mysterious blood deliveries that went down to his lab?

Particularly in the Administration division. It was the catch all for everything that didn't fall under the three other departments. Propaganda, archival services, bribery, anything that was even remotely seedy and illicit was thrown under the deceptively benign title of administrative work. It reminded Alfred of the Unspeakables in Harry Potter.

By the end of his tour, Alfred ended up only with more questions than answers and a vague sense of unease. And sore feet to boot. He was more than a little relieved when they finally came to the R&D department. They entered a set of automatic glass doors, coming into sterile white halls that reminded Alfred of his own private lab. "Dr. Arlovskaya is the head of R&D," Arthur said as they headed into the main offices. "Natalya Arlovskaya. I'm not sure yet who you'll actually be working with, but you can ask her for anything you need. Ah, here she is." He stopped and gave a short wave to a petite woman wearing a purple lab coat and a pristine white apron. "Natalya. This is Alfred Jones, the one I had mentioned earlier. He'll be collaborating with R&D."

"Ah, nice to meet you," Alfred said politely, holding out a hand. Only to stop short when he saw the huge knife in the blond woman's hand.

"Hn," Dr. Arlovskaya hummed, setting the blade down onto a metal lab table. "Alfred Jones, vampire. Interesting," she said, her sharp blue eyes looking intently over him like a prized specimen.

Arthur gave her a hard look. "Natalya, he's not to be touched," he said in warning, his hand coming up to grip Alfred's arm protectively. As if Alfred needed to be protected. Which made Alfred rather... _concerned._

The scientist smirked. "Of course, Commander Kirkland. I will take good care of him," she said as her eyes slid back to Alfred.

Alfred shivered, her calculating gaze making his skin crawl. She smelled and felt human, but there was just something _off_ about her. Like she was a thing that could masquerade perfectly as a human being. And she was creepy. Oh _God_ , she was creepy. So, _so creepy._

"Alright, I will leave him in your care then," Arthur said, turning away towards the doors.

"Ah, wait, wait!" Alfred cried, grabbing at the Brit's arm. "Are we- Dinner! Dinner tonight! You in?" he asked. Anything to make sure that _someone_ was actually going to look for him in case he mysteriously disappeared into the bowels of the R &D department.

 _Better the devil you know..._

Arthur blinked, before his gaze softened and he smiled. "Yes, of course. I will come pick you up in your room. Natalya, don't keep him too late," he told the scientist, who gave a disappointed huff.

"Very well, Commander Kirkland," she said, looking distinctly like she wanted to pout. Irritated, she waved for Alfred to follow. "You, come with me. We shall go to robotics. Then you can go home and have sex with boyfriend."

Internally burning with embarrassment, Alfred took one look back at the Brit before reluctantly following after Natalya. He was careful not to draw too much attention to himself, observing all the whitecoats working on their various projects through the large glass windowed labs. Then, Natalya gestured Alfred into a lab where two other scientists were working. "Beilschmidt!" she called out to a white haired worker. "Your charge is here. Take care of him!"

Thankfully, she left without so much as another word, presumably bored with him since she didn't have leave to poke and prod him. Turning back to his new colleague, Alfred nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Beilschmidt had _red eyes._ Red eyes like _him._

However, the man didn't look even remotely interested in sucking Alfred's lifeforce out of his body. Instead, he snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "So you are ze baby I am being stuck vit?" he asked, giving the vampire a baleful look. "Vhat iz your name?"

"Alfred Jones," the vampire replied, returning the disdainful look with one of his own. "And I am _not_ a baby."

"Yes, yes, I know. You are ze little vampire birdie who come back to ze roost," the white haired man said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Argh! I cannot believe ze awesome me iz being stuck vit your lame ass. Do you even know any quantum mechanics? Or heard of Eric Drexler?"

"...No," Alfred admitted. His cheeks would have flushed if not for the fact that he didn't have any blood to spare. "But that's why I'm here isn't it? For you to teach me?"

"I do not have time!" the other man cried, throwing up his hands. "Thanks to your lame ass, I now have to figure out how to make ozone particles out of novhere! I do not have time to babysit little vampire baby."

"Oh my God, stop calling me a baby! I'm over five hundred years old!" Alfred cried indignantly.

"Tch," Beilschmidt snorted. "So damn arrogant for being so _old._ Oh please. As if you should vin avard for being a wrinkly fart. Still means you're useless at microfabrication. Now go avay and sit in ze corner. Maybe you vill learn something," he said airily as he waved towards a free lab table.

Alfred's nostrils flared, sucking in a sharp breath to argue. Then he suddenly choked. Oh, what was that _smell?_ It was like decaying, putrid flesh already ripe with maggots. He looked around, trying to find the offending source. Wasn't the lab tech and everything else was machines. His gaze snapped back to Beilschmidt and his eyes widened. Holy shit, how had he not noticed that the man didn't have a _beating heart?_

Beilschmidt's eyes darkened. "Ah, zere it is," he sighed, holding out his arms. "Come, let's have it already. Tell me about how you zink your lame ass is better zan me for being a zombie-Kind."

The vampire's eyes went wide. "Wait... you're a _zombie?_ A real, honest to God, _zombie?_ " he asked in awe, breaking out into a wide fanged smile. "Holy crap, that's so cool! I've never met a zombie before!" He bounced around Beilschmidt, trying to see what other differences there were besides the rotting smell. "Wow, you're not at all like what I expected. I mean, you sure smell like a zombie, but you're not doing the mindless shuffle thing. Do you eat brains? Is that why you can still talk?"

"Hey, zat is prejudice," Beilschmidt said, though he was quite disarmed by the vampire's excitement. "But yes, I eat ze brains. Nice perk of being super-genius zombie for hire. Unlimited supply."

"Really? Huh. I wonder if you get your brains from the same place I get blood," Alfred mused, giving into the urge to poke the zombie on the shoulder. "Though I really hope not because I'm like _deathly_ allergic to dead man's blood, so I actually need to get it from living humans. Hey, are you extra smart for eating brains? Is that how that works? Ooh, are there more of you? Can you turn other people into zombies by biting them? Y'know, I've tried to turn people into vampires too, but then they turn all ghouly and sorta what I thought zombies were like. I never really got the hang of the turning thing."

"...You are very strange," Beilschmidt said as Alfred paused to take a breath. He gave the blond an appraising look and held out his hand. "Alright, I shall give you proper introduction to my awesome self. I am Gilbert Beilschmidt. Zombie nano-engineer extraordinaire."

"Ah, nice to meet you," Alfred said and shook the other man's hand. It was the most genuine thing he'd said all day. "Alfred Jones, again. Vampire super-hacker," he said as he puffed up with pride.

"Hacker, eh? Zat's cool," Gilbert admitted. "Oh, and zat's just henchman, don't mind him," he said as he waved distractedly over at his lab tech. "So, hacker? Vhy are you so interested in nanotechnology?"

"Mmmm, to be honest, I'm not really," Alfred replied, before he added quickly, "Don't get me wrong, I think it's really cool! But the idea of trying to learn everything about it pretty much just makes my head hurt. Thing is, it's all tied up in some other side project I'm working on and I really need to figure out how it works."

"Oh? Vhat side project? Maybe I can help," Beilschmidt offered. He was being so friendly that Alfred nearly forgot himself and blurted it out. However, he caught himself at the last second with his jaw agape, then gave the zombie a sheepish look.

"Ah, sorry. I can't really talk about it. Thanks for offering though. To be honest, first thing I need to do is translate all the notes into English," Alfred said with a laugh as he awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head. "But I'm just afraid that I won't get it even after I can read it. Oh hey, I think what I'd really need to know about is nano-nuclear tech though. I don't suppose you could just give me a brief summary about how it works?"

Clearly relieved that he didn't need to teach the basics of quantum mechanics, Gilbert shrugged. "Ah, sure. I can explain over late lunch. Hey, henchman!" he called out to his cronie. "You, start on ze ozone project!" Ignoring the human's squawk of protest, the zombie waved for Alfred to follow. Alfred did so, trailing after the white haired zombie to head to what looked like a private break room. Inside, there was a kitchen area, an enormous fridge and a table with stools. Alfred sat himself down at the table, watching in morbid curiosity as Gilbert took a large tupperware container from the fridge. Inside was a gray goo as jiggly as tapioca. Taking a spoon, the zombie unapologetically sat across from Alfred and began eating. "Okay, so, vhat do you vant to know?"

Alfred, however, was incredibly distracted by the brain-eating. It looked _disgusting,_ but was so novel he couldn't stop watching. He sniffed experimentally at the air. "Hey, that's not human, is it?" he said, pointing to the goo.

"Nein, cow," the zombie replied, slurping it up. "Ve all must make sacrifices," he said with a rather put upon sigh.

"Well, how'd you even get this gig in the first place?" Alfred asked, burning with curiosity. "I mean, I guess this place is more likely than most, but how'd you get hired instead of... y'know..." He slid a finger across his throat.

"I vasn't hired so much as drafted," Gilbert replied nonplussed. "You see, mein bruder, he vas a member of ze Watchers. In good with Fuhrer Kirkland. Ludvig, you know him?"

Alfred's eyes went wide. "Wait, Luddy's your _brother?_ " he asked incredulously. "Then why- why are you a _zombie?_ And why do you have an _accent?_ "

"Do not compare me to mein bruder!" the zombie snapped in a sudden bout of explosive anger as he waved his brain-spoon in front of Alfred's nose. However, it didn't last and he sat back down to continue eating. "So vhat if he speaks better English zan me. He vas not ze one vit two doctorates in quantum mechanics und molecular biology!"

However, the vampire only frowned, growing more confused. "But- you're _here_ and... wait, did anyone tell you about Luddy?" he asked, wondering if someone had broken the news to the zombie. "That he's..."

"...Dead, I know," Gilbert replied and gave an uncomfortable shrug. "I learned after I vas raised from ze dead."

Alfred sat there, trying to absorb this. "Who raised you?" he asked softly.

"People vorking for Fuhrer Kirkland," the zombie replied, finishing up his brains and pushing the tupperware away. "You see, zey found my cryogenically frozen body in Deutschland. I preserved it, hoping someone vould find a cure for my degenerative disease. Und vell..." he gestured at himself, "I suppose zey did. I am not complaining."

The vampire nodded slowly. So. The Watchers had definitely not dropped the supernatural ball after all. The question was, was Gilbert just another exception like him? Or was there something else more nefarious going on?

He knew which he'd put his money on.

Y'know, if he had any.

"Vell, I should back back to vork," Gilbert said as he hopped off his stool. "If I leave my henchman alone for too long, he thinks it's okay to go home to sleep. Lazy lame ass. I vill vhip him into shape. Vill you come und vatch?"

"Mmm, tempting," Alfred said with a small smile. "But now you've reminded me I should probably figure out what I need to know before I start asking questions." Which meant trudging back to his room and getting back to transcribing Japanese. Sigh. "Awesome meeting you though. Can I just drop by whenever?"

"Of course it's awesome meeting ze awesome me," Gilbert replied haughtily. Then he gave Alfred another look. "Ja, you're alright. Come by vhen you vant. I shall show you ze ropes."

"Cool," Alfred grinned, giving the zombie an enthusiastic wave. "I'll see you later!" He dashed off, getting turned around in the R&D halls only a _couple_ times and sneaking stealthily past Dr. Arlovskaya for fear of meeting up with her alone. _Shiver._

Coming back to his isolated wing, the vampire took in a couple bags of blood as he peeled out of his stuffy red and black gear, already deciding if he was going anywhere _near_ Arlovskaya again he was going to be completely decked out in his body armor. He flopped onto his bed, sucking down a blood bag as he took a moment just to decompress. Then he grinned over at Kiku's urn. "So, I met someone cool today. No, _awesome._ Guess that means I'll be spending less time talking to you."

Silence.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. You'll always be my best bud," Alfred said with a smile, feeling like he finally had reason to. Yes, he finally had a plan and it was a great feeling. He was going to get the Japanese translated and he was going to get help with the nanotech half of it. For the supernatural part... _Well_ , whatever wasn't freely accessible to him, he was going to dig up himself. Maybe it took him a couple weeks to get on his feet, but now things were finally starting to look up.

Then the door knocked.

~o~

Alfred froze to the spot. Arthur. Had to be. Crap, he completely forgot he promised dinner with him. Maybe if he just stayed _very still_ he could pretend he wasn't here and wouldn't have to see him.

Another knock. "Alfred? I know you're in there. Arlovskaya said you already left."

Cursing under his breath, Alfred rolled up into a sit, tugging on some pants and his ratty T-shirt. He opened up the door just a crack, spying the Brit outside. Arthur was dressed in civvies, surprisingly, fitted black slacks and a green button down shirt that showed off his slender build and his bright eyes so well. Alfred's breath caught and he stood there stupidly for a long moment.

"May I come in?" Arthur asked, his lips pulling in an amused quirk. Nodding, Alfred opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing the Brit entry. "Thank you," he said, before glancing about the room as if it were a new space to him. "I wasn't quite sure where you wanted to have dinner. My room, yours? Cafeteria?" he admitted, his gaze falling back on Alfred. Then he gave the vampire one of those warm and adoring smiles that made him absolutely _melt._ "I'm up for anything."

"Ah, ah-huh," Alfred said, swallowing as his mouth went dry. He couldn't even mentally berate himself. Not when Arthur looked so much like he did before, not when he looked at Alfred like he was the center of his entire world.

 _Down boy. Stop it._

Shaking it off, the vampire made some token effort to look annoyed. He was only so glad he wasn't as hot-blooded as a human or else this would have been infinitely more difficult. "You should call first," he said, folding his arms over his chest. "I could have been doing something. Something private."

Arthur's smile dropped, his brow knitting into a frown. "Like what?" he demanded, giving a particularly skeptical look to the vampire's groin. Alfred resisted the urge to hold a hand protectively over it.

 _"Private stuff,"_ Alfred insisted with an embarrassed hiss. "Anyway, anywhere's fine. I'll just change into... something."

"I still have all your things in ou- in my room," Arthur said, his words as careful as though he were disarming a mine. "I... If you like we could go and pick them up. Or I could just hold them for you. Until you decide you want to come back..."

What, was Arthur holding his stuff hostage? Though, he honestly thought he wasn't going to see any of that stuff ever again. He'd essentially been living out of his backpack for the past fifty years. "...we'll see," Alfred allowed, watching Arthur's eyes flicker with hope. "Hang onto it for me for a little bit. Until we see what happens." Eh, he didn't need it for fifty years, he could go without it indefinitely if need be. Though hopefully only for as long as it took to figure out these nanites.

"Alright," Arthur agreed, awkwardly rubbing his arm. "We could stay here. D-did you want to have dinner?"

"I already ate," Alfred said and gestured to his emptied bags.

"Oh, I-I'm not actually hungry either," Arthur said quickly. "We could do something else. Um, we could reinstate Thursday night movies..."

"...it's not Thursday," Alfred said slowly.

"I know it's not!" Arthur suddenly cried, making Alfred jump. "Damn it, Alfred, I'm trying here! You were the one who asked me to dinner in the first place! I don't understand why I'm getting such mixed signals from you!"

The outburst made the vampire seize up, fight or flight responses primed. He forced his claws to retract, balling his hands into fists. Then he spoke in a slow controlled voice, "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm not trying to lead you on, okay? It's just- Arthur, you're... _different._ Things are different. I mean, you realize that, right?" He chanced a look at Arthur's face and winced at the Brit's pained expression. "I... How can I..." he said and shook his head. "Arthur, if it weren't for this Collar..."

"...is that what's stopping you?" Arthur asked quietly, suddenly back to his calm self. The sudden switching and contrast did nothing to help the vampire's nerves.

"Well," Alfred started. No, it wasn't even close to being that simple. Not when he was paranoid that Arthur could turn on him at any second. But... "It's one of the reasons," he admitted quietly. "What you did to me would have never happened if I didn't have this Collar on me. I wouldn't feel so agitated around you if it was off. And since we never figured out how to get it off without your magic..."

The Watcher was silent, considering this for a long moment as he absently chewed his thumb. "If I got rid of the Collar, you'd move back into our room?" he asked, glancing up at the vampire.

Wait. It didn't take semi-accidental enslavement, running away for fifty years and giving him the cold shoulder to give Arthur the motivation to get rid of the Collar? _Really?_ He should have kept trying ever since Alfred said he hated it the first time!

However, he bit down on his harsh retort. After all, he wasn't exactly going to say he _didn't_ want the Collar off. "Alright," he agreed through clenched teeth. "I'll move back in if you can get rid of the Collar." And if Arthur somehow wiggled his fingers and managed to poof it away he was going to _punch his jaw off._

The Watcher did not. Instead he let out a considering hum. "Well, before I had hoped to keep this between ourselves. However, I may impose upon my research team to try to find a solution for both of us."

Research team? As in, supernatural research team? Alfred perked up, unable to hide his interest. Would these be the same kind of people that would be able to help with Arthur's small _existential_ problem? Licking his lips as he sensed opportunity, he said, "Arthur, I'm not sure how I feel about just _anyone_ knowing about my Collar. I want to at least meet them."

Arthur gave him a queer look and for a panicked moment, the vampire wondered if the Watcher could read his thoughts. If somehow he could sense his hidden agenda. After a pause, Arthur said, "I suppose it is rather private. Perhaps later. I'll make sure not to mention it until I have a chance to introduce you." Then he smiled again and tentatively reached out to gently squeeze the vampire's hand. "Thank you, love. Now I have something we can work towards..."

Alfred nodded slowly. What if... the Collar _could_ just come off? Without returning Arthur his dreams, his magic? It hadn't been why he returned, yet the idea being with Arthur again without that yoke was just so _enticing._ He could stay with him without fear, maybe nudge him away from all the horrible activities that the Watchers were up to.

Maybe this had been a completely selfish venture all along. Was he really risking the possibility of Arthur fading from existence for Arthur or for _him?_ Did the Brit even want to go back? Surely, he'd want that. To be able to dream and write again. ...Right?

"Alfred?" Arthur spoke softly, reaching up to trace his fingers along the vampire's cool cheek. "What is it?" When he felt Alfred give a guilty start, the Watcher smiled. "I can see it all over your face, love. You have something you want to tell me. It's alright. You can tell me..."

Alfred's expression twisted, torn between the need for secrecy and the impulse to tell all. "...Not yet," he said finally, the urge to blab popping like a bubble as he pushed out the words. "I have to see where things go." However, he did turn his eyes up to Arthur and added quietly, "I know I'm being hot and cold, but the only reason why I came back is you." The past Arthur, the memory of them, but still Arthur. Maybe he was just living in a pipe dream. Maybe Arthur wouldn't turn back to the way he was. Still, he couldn't help but hope.

The words, however, only made Arthur beam warmly at him. "Alright," he said, appeased. His hand reached up, gently stroking the vampire's blond hair. "I'm sorry. I know you're trying, too. After all, you came back, didn't you? I just wish there was something I could do to make us go back to the way things were..."

"The Collar will help," Alfred replied, his resistance faltering when Arthur was being so sweet and warm and loving like this. Erg, why did he _also_ have to be an Emperor Palpatine-level megalomaniac?

"Good," Arthur smiled. "In the meantime, what say we just get acquainted with one another again? We could just sit and talk. Where did you travel to, while you were away? Anywhere exciting?" Taking Alfred's hands, he led them both over to the couch, taking one end for himself and Alfred the other. He let his fingers stay there, his own milky skin barely contrasting against Alfred's own corpse white.

"All over. I had fifty years. There pretty much wasn't anywhere I didn't go," Alfred replied with a small shrug. It was better not to be specific. Just in case this didn't work out and he had to make a run for it again. However, as he watched Arthur deflate, he reluctantly conceded one place that wouldn't do him any harm, "I... I got to see Venice though. Before it went underwater."

"Ah," the Brit said, his tone sad and soft. "I did as well. I... would have liked to have seen it with you. Although perhaps it is better that we do not travel together..."

Alfred frowned at that. "Why's that?" he demanded, growing offended.

Not that he cared. Or anything.

"Oh love, it's not like that," the Watcher tutted, his lips quirking into a smile. "I've been victim to several assassination attempts lately. Not dangerous for me, naturally. However, it's perilous for anyone to be around me." Alfred wondered if any of them had tried nanotech and a sharp unwanted chill went down his spine. It went unnoticed by Arthur. "And I _know_ you're just going to say I'm being paranoid. However, it's not paranoia if people actually are out to get you."

Much as that might be true, Alfred wasn't going to encourage Arthur's obsessive tendencies. "Well, nothing's happened to you here right?" he asked, "Besides, I can handle myself. I took care of myself for hundreds of years before meeting you."

"So you like to remind me," Arthur replied dryly.

"Because you need reminding," Alfred shot back.

The conversation stopped short into terse silence. The unsaid Event had a heavy cloying effect, like a suffocating smog.

"Perhaps I should go," Arthur finally said, pushing himself up from the couch, his face etched with irritation. "Clearly, it's too soon for this. I should have known better than to think you actually wanted to see me."

"Arthur..." Alfred groaned, rubbing a hand through his hair. "You know what has to happen. You... you can't have this power over me. I need to be _free._ Or else this is never going to work."

The Watcher stood by him for a long moment, his expression warring with itself as he looked like he wanted to counter the argument. However, he finally released a long sigh like a surrender. "Yes, I will work on it. I swear it. I know this means everything to you." Tentatively, he reached out and traced his fingers over the vampire's jaw. "Thank you for coming back. You know that you're my whole world, right? I... I think you're the only thing left that keeps me human..." he admitted quietly.

Alfred wondered if that was true. And if it was... What a heavy burden it was. Now his research felt less like wishful thinking and more like an overwhelming responsibility. "You should want to be human just for the sake of it," he told the Brit. "You shouldn't have to rely on me. It's just something you have to strive for." He paused as Arthur gave him a crooked smile. "What?"

"It's precisely because you say such things that you are so precious," Arthur mused, gently cupping Alfred's cheek. "How do you manage to stay so grounded, so _good,_ after having lived for so long?"

What a _weird_ question. If he was the example of a grounded personality, that didn't exactly bode well for the rest of mankind. Plus, _good?_ He'd killed countless people as a full-fledged vampire. Hell, he killed Arthur's _childhood friend._ Granted, he was brainwashed, but the blood was still on his hands. Did the Brit just forget about that? "I just try..." Alfred said with an uncomfortable shrug. "It's the best I can do."

"Which is better than most," the Watcher replied softly. For a brief second, Alfred wondered if he was talking about himself. Then Arthur asked, "May I kiss you?"

That Alfred had seen coming, but his phantom heart raced with nervous energy. "...Just one before you leave," he decided, mentally bracing himself. Smiling, Arthur leaned in, gently touching his lips to Alfred's.

It was like fireworks. Nothing desperate or confused. Just soft, warm, familiar and _wonderful._ The vampire groaned into it, drinking it up with as much ache as he lusted for blood, pressing in and wanting. Arthur, however, had to pull back for air, his cheeks flushed so prettily as he panted. "God, the things you make me _feel,_ " he moaned, leaning in for another.

 _Ditto,_ Alfred thought. However, one hand kept Arthur from getting too close, just an inch apart. "I said just _one_ , Artie," he said with a smirk. "Hot-blooded as ever. Save it for next time."

" _Fiend,_ " Arthur huffed in mock-indignation, before he fell back into his prim and proper facade. "Very well, til next time." He settled for one last stroke of Alfred's cheek before he headed off, leaving Alfred alone in his room.

Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Alfred fell back onto the couch and sprawled across the cushions. Staring at the ceiling, he suddenly wondered how it was that a bloodthirsty vampire was somehow keeper to an evil overlord's humanity.

Ugh, maybe that was where everything went wrong.

After a minute, he rolled up to his feet and glanced over to his bed underneath which the passcon lay waiting for scribing.

 _With great power..._

 _...No, nope. Not going to finish that thought._


	4. Chapter 4

The days ticked by at a grueling snail's pace. The vampire's days and nights were filled with meticulous and hand-cramping transcription. It reminded him off the old, _old_ days where monks spent years copying books by hand. He was on a Mission, never leaving his lab and rebuffing all (his one and only) visitors. Nearly all earthly pleasures were forsaken in favor of it aside from sparse hours sleeping and eating only when he felt himself getting a little too ashy. Soon all he could think about was ink strokes and his dreams and daydreams were filled with being lost in a maze of black paths in an empty white forest.

So, it was a little shocking when he finally reached the end of Kiku's notes two months since arriving at Daedalus. Alfred stared at the digital notebook, making another futile efforts to turn the page. It didn't quite kick in yet that he was done. He pushed himself up and felt his spine crack and his hand spasm, every bone and muscle protesting as he pressed out of the position he'd been petrified in. Even his _eyes_ ached even when he was using his computer screen glasses.

However, even though just a minute ago he'd been so bone tired, a sudden burst of energy pumped through him. He was _done._ He was done and he could _finally_ figure out what Kiku had researched about Arthur. It was the first step in finally putting his broken lover back together. Ignoring his aching and fatigued body, he rushed his transcribed book off to the lab and connected the memory book port into the main computer. The transcribed pages flew up into his program and he nearly slammed the translate button.

While that sped by, he brought the passcon into the lab as well and hooked up that port into his supercomputer. Once the translation was finished, he opened up a function to apply changes to the passcon.

 **Japanese = English Complete  
105 Errors Found and Noted  
105 Context Rules Inferred**

 **APPLY CHANGES?**

 **Yes - No**

Alfred paused half a second right over Yes. Did he back this up? Oh, wait. Yes, he had. Twice. Then he slammed on the Y key and watched as the translation uploaded into Kiku's passcon.

A minute later a small microwave-like _Ding_ indicated that the upload was complete. It went unheard, the vampire slumped over in his seat fast asleep.

~o~

Now more than ever, the vampire birdie actually did act like a bird. After months of not bothering to visit the lab, vam-birdie flocked to Gil daily, peppering him with questions about this and about that. Like a little birdie come to pick at crumb before flying off to wherever they go.

It was so _annoying!_ Especially when he had much better things to do that to explain the basic fundamentals of wavefunction collapse and eigenstates and probabilistic wave-particle orbits. Vam-birdie didn't even know a thing about wave-particle duality! How was he supposed to work like this?!

"Aren't you supposed to be helping vit zis o-zone project?" Gil finally demanded as Alfred ran into his lab for the _fifth time_ that day with more questions on his console.

Vam-birdie only gave him a sheepish smile, holding his wrist-console (which was quite cool, Gil had to admit) to his chest as if he were cradling it. "Ah, my bad. Do you really want my help though?" he asked in all seriousness.

"Absolutely _not,_ " Gil grumbled, conceding the point. "But you cannot keep popping in here all ze time like zis! I have better zings to do zan babysit little vampire _baby_." He ignored the flat look that the vampire gave him. "Vhy do you not bother ze henchman? Or better, show me your damned vork so I can get on vit mine!"

Vam-birdie ignored him, his attention drawing over to the henchmen, studying him with such intensity that Gilbert wondered if he was going to pounce and eat him at any second. "Can I borrow him?" he suddenly asked, pointing to the henchman. His henchman looked up from his work, alarmed.

It made Gil grin viciously.

Ten minutes later, the doors to his lab slid open again. "Where is Agent Estonia?" Fuhrer Kirkland called irritably, distracting Gil right when he was in the middle of a delicate microfabrication procedure.

"Vhy am I constantly being interrupted?!" Gil demanded, ready to hurl over his lab table. He could too. He'd tried it.

Fuhrer Kirkland was completely unmoved. "I know he was in here. Don't tell me I missed him."

"You missed him," Gil replied flatly, equally unsympathetic.

Curses flew from Fuhrer Kirkland's surprisingly potty mouth, as he turned heel and left the irritated zombie's lab. Finally, Gil was left to his peace and quiet. Minus one henchman for the time being, but he could do without. Humming to himself, he went back to work on creating his new o-zone nanites.

~o~

Alfred's head ached with a searing migraine by the time he'd let Gil's henchman out of his control. He shoved the poor guy out of his lab as soon as he was done with him, too debilitated to help him figure out how to get back to R&D. He was likely disoriented and nauseous from being under the vampire's amnesiac, hypnotic gaze for so long, but Alfred only had so much sympathy when he felt just as sick. He was only glad he was back on real blood or it would have been far worse.

He was going to have to do it all over again soon, repeatedly. He had only asked Gil's henchman to give him the lowdown on how everything worked in layman's terms, meticulously recorded in Alfred's digital notebook for him to read later. Once he got around to figuring out the _other_ part of Kiku's research (what in the sam hell Arthur even was), he'd have to hack the henchman again to actually construct the nanites that would fix Arthur. It was a plan. It was a _good plan._

It was going to have to happen _later_.

Right now, he was just going to lay down for a little bit. Alfred curled up in bed, blanket tugged over his head to keep any shred of light from stabbing his pounding vision. Sleep. He had to sleep. There was no other way to make it stop _hurting._

It was the very worst time for his door to knock.

" _Go away!"_ Alfred snapped, his words ending on a rippling growl.

Arthur's muffled voice came through the door. "Alfred. _Alfred_ , will you-" A _swoosh_ sound followed, indicating that the Brit had opened up the door and his voice came through in painful clarity. "I need to talk to you about the Collar."

 _That_ got Alfred's attention. Even as aching and as miserable as he was, he pulled the blanket down just below his eyes and peeked over to see Arthur hanging onto either side of the doorway, feet still planted just outside the room. "Okay, come in," he muttered, resigned.

To his credit, once he saw the state Alfred was in, Arthur became much more sympathetic. "Love?" he spoke softly, stepping lightly into the room and over to Alfred's bed. "Oh love, are you alright?" he asked, the bed dipping slightly as he sat on the edge. A hand came up to Alfred's temple and his cheek and neck, brushing gently over the vampire's cool skin. It felt warm and _nice_. Alfred couldn't help but close his eyes again.

"Better?" Arthur asked fondly, continuing the soothing motions.

"Quiet," Alfred ordered petulantly, arching his neck up like a cat wanting to be pet.

The immortal let out an amused chuckle. "Yes, yes. Just take a nap. I will be right here..." Neither noticed the tug and pull of the order, the soft strokes and the Collared words lulling the vampire into a pain-soaked slumber.

Some time later, the vampire awoke from his slumber, feeling light headed and not altogether stable. Blinking blearily up at the ceiling, he wondered if he'd just imagined Arthur coming into his room or if that whole episode had just been wishful delirium. Then the skid of a chair startled him up into a sitting position. His head whirled to look around so quickly he made himself dizzy.

"Sorry, sorry," Arthur said, very slowly getting up from his seat at the table a few feet away, holding out a placating hand to the vampire. His voice still damnably soft and gentle, he asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

Cursing the immortal's ninja body, Alfred fell back onto his pillows and gave the Brit a half-hearted glare. "Sort of. Doesn't hurt like a horse kicked me in the head anymore. Get me a blood bag?"

Obliging immediately, Arthur brought out a couple bags from the fridge and took them to the vampire. Sucking them down, Alfred felt just a little better. More like his old self again, if still a bit dazed. Tossing them aside, he pushed himself up, sitting cross-legged on top of his bed. "So, what brings you round these parts?" he asked, taking on a sarcastic cowboy-twang.

"Aside from the fact that you haven't let me see you in months?" Arthur asked, raising a thick eyebrow. "I went over all my old research on the Collar and have not been able to come up with anything new. I thought that we might try consulting my research team now. However, you had mentioned that you wanted to meet them first." He gave the vampire a sour look. "I would have introduced you weeks ago, but you decided to rebuff me this entire time. What exactly were you doing this whole time?"

"Research," Alfred retorted.

Arthur released a long sigh. "Are you ever going to tell me what you're working on?"

"Yes," Alfred replied curtly, earning a surprised look from the immortal. Well, it was _true._ He was going to have to tell Arthur eventually. Unless he wanted to experiment on the Brit in his sleep or something.

"Oh..." Arthur said, bemused. "Ah, well, I see. I don't suppose I'm going to _like_ what you're working on, am I?"

"Dunno yet. I'll let you know when I get down to the nitty-gritty," the vampire replied with a shrug. The other blond was just going to have to be satisfied with that in the meantime. For now... Alfred leaned forward, his eyes bright with anticipation. "Now... about this research team. When can we talk to them?" Maybe he could hack a couple of _them_ to take care of all the supernatural crap in Kiku's notes.

"Just a minute," the Brit said, putting a hand on Alfred's shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze. Uh-oh, he wasn't sure he liked where this was going. "First, I want to confirm that you'll be alright with them performing tests on you. They may ask me to give you some orders to see the effects of the Collar."

Alfred stared at him in open horror. Well, _shit_. Dread pooled in his stomach, as dark and as venomous as dead man's blood. But... he could see why it would have to happen... Swallowing hard, he acquiesced quietly, "Only if it's completely necessary. Like, there's no way they can figure out what to do if they don't see it."

"Of course," Arthur breathed, relief flooding his expression. Then he gave Alfred a hesitant look. "There's more."

 _Oh joy._

"My research team is in London. I thought it best if they were removed from main operations. Usually, I can communicate with them virtually, but it might be best if we see them in person in this instance."

Alfred blinked. Oh. Well, that really wasn't all that bad. However, Arthur continued to look as though he was going to snap at him at any second. "Are you able to leave your work for that long? I'm not sure when we'll be able to come back," the Brit asked, pained.

"Oh, _pfft_ , that's all?" the vampire said with a wave of his hand. "It's no big deal. I'll just bring it with me." When Arthur's eyes took on a glimmer of interest, Alfred suddenly wondered if he shouldn't have let slip that his work was portable. Frantically, he tried to backtrack. "Uh... I mean- the part that I'll work on anyway. It's a super massive, super complex project. Like, huge."

Arthur gave him an amused smile. One that said he wasn't buying it. "Love, I'm not going to peek into your things. Don't worry," he assured him in a tease. "But in that case, it should be easy to pack. Do let me know how soon you can depart. I will make arrangements to be away for an extended period of time."

"I can go today-" Alfred started, before a sudden bout of dizziness hit him again. "Urgh, maybe tomorrow..." he groaned, still suffering from his extended control over Gil's henchman.

An amused chuckle escaped the Brit. "Very well, I will see you tomorrow then. Bright and early," he said, pressing a chaste kiss to Alfred's brow. "Please, try to get some rest, Love."

Nodding, the vampire curled back up in bed, waiting until Arthur left before he let himself relax. The Brit's presence still put him on edge, although it was slowly getting better. He really did not know if that was a good thing or if he should be worried he was being lulled into a false sense of security. Yet it seemed that Arthur really _was_ trying. Would it be so terrible to give him the benefit of the doubt?

Yes. Yes, it would be. At least until the Collar came off. Even when it did, Arthur was still the overlord of the shadiest underground surveillance and private security organization he'd ever seen. Not that he'd seen that many, but still...

Alfred's stomach roiled with turmoil and the lingering nausea as he forced himself to close his eyes and sleep.

~o~

 _ **January 3, 2034**_

 _Tests reveal that the AntiN-particles (now AN-particles) that make up Subject A's body operate on similar wavelengths as radioactive isotopes. However, their behaviour is contrary to any other known radioactive isotopes in nature - terrestrial or extraterrestrial - in that they are not inherently unstable._

 _Thus, a process similar to radioactive decay is likely not responsible for the steady loss of typical human processes, such as dreaming, creativity or the innate magicka that make up every living organism. It could be that the wavelengths are entirely too wild to allow enough energy to be devoted to those processes._

 _This goes back to the question of whether or not Subject A is still alive. Energy is not distributed in the same conventional methods as is observed in a living or decaying organism. In this regard, Subject A has much more in common with uranium ore than a human being._

 _Some experimentation will have to be done on the AN-particles and nano-nuclear technology to see what effect the nanites will have._

Even dumbed down for him, Alfred stared at the notes in his wrist console, trying to wrap his mind around what he was reading. Every so often, his eyes flicked up towards Arthur sitting on the other side of the cargo hold. Arthur would sometimes catch his eye and give him a smile, which Alfred would answer with a nervous one of his own, before his eyes flicked down again.

After a boiling trip from Daedalus to the airstrip, they hitched a ride on one of the Watcher cargo planes headed to England (less fuel). It was actually a relief that he didn't need to go on a passenger flight in an enclosed space with too many beating hearts. However, the roaring environment forced them to stay in their own heads instead of talking. So instead, Alfred reviewed the information that Gil's henchman had 'translated' for him.

He almost wished he hadn't.

It was bleak. He hadn't realized until now just how much Kiku _didn't know_. All Kiku had was hypotheses and suppositions, coming from his intense study of the matter that made up Arthur now. _Not human. Not even close to human anymore._ He knew that already, but it was frightening to read it in such detail like this. If he tried experimenting straight on Arthur now it would be blatantly irresponsible and _dangerous._ Hadn't Kiku warned him about that? That nuclear nanites could make Arthur _disappear from existence?_

He looked down to the notes again, getting to the part where the experimentation had actually started.

 _ **June 15, 2034**_

 _I have been able to obtain a variety of samples from Subject A to experiment with._

Here Alfred wondered how much Arthur actually knew of Kiku's work.

 _ **August 7, 2041**_

 _Blood thus far has been the most helpful in experimentation. The nanites have been programmed to hone in specifically on Subject A's particular DNA sequence. I have three samples thus far; one control, one with higher oscillating nanites and one with lower oscillating nanites._

 _As expected, the nanites that induce even higher oscillation have a disastrous effect on the already highly velocitized AN-particles. Whatever stabilizing force kept the AN-particles from emitting excess energy was lost and the AN-particles went into rapid decay, causing molecular damage around it before the particles broke apart._

 _ **August 16, 2041**_

 _It appears that this same unknown force works on the AN-particles in the opposite test. The nanites that reduce frequency were able to calm the AN-particles' energy down to what can be considered safe and solid levels. However, soon after the nanites were dispersed, the AN-particles snapped back to its original frequency. I have yet to understand or quantify this unknown force, which I shall now call 'Kihon'._

 _ **October 19, 2057**_

 _It is my belief that Kihon is what acts to keep the AN-particles in Subject A in stasis and will work to correct any imperfections in the AN-particles. This may be why Subject-A appears to be a tangible solid, while being made of particles that rightly should be invisible to the human eye. It may also explain why Subject A is unable to age or 'die' in a conventional sense. What is most unusual is that Kihon appears to defy nearly all laws of Entropy. More research will have to be done on Kihon itself and how it could be passed from one person to another. There are some texts from Macedonia that may be helpful. I will also begin tests similar to those for Dark Matter._

Frowning, Alfred flipped to another tab and looked at his own notes on nano-nuclear tech that he'd bugged his zombie-scientist in residence about. The nanites most commonly used in nuclear disasters were the de-radiating ones. The ones that made radioactive waves safe, like normal light. Those had to be the ones that Arthur was hit with in Japan during that blast at the nuclear power plant. So Kiku must've realized there was a chance that Arthur would bounce back from that. Then again, he probably never actually experimented on Arthur himself...

So deep in thought, Alfred nearly jumped two feet in the air when something touched the top of his head. He looked up in startlement, meeting Arthur's guilty look. _'Sorry'_ Arthur mouthed, once again able to sneak up on Alfred. The Brit gestured to the seat beside him, wanting to join him. Figuring he'd have to continue his reading later, Alfred nodded.

Arthur's body was warm as he sat down, pressing up along Alfred's side. Swallowing hard, the vampire looked over and found Arthur's bright green eyes watching him, soft and adoring. The Brit reached over and put a hand to his bicep, giving it a squeeze. It was sweet and familiar and his chest couldn't help but pang with want. It was getting more and more difficult to resist the urge to give in...

And he was scared. He didn't like what he just read. That it could be so easy for the immortal to disappear. That the information he had seemed to hold the key to destroying, rather than saving. Everything would be so much easier if he didn't still love Arthur.

From the expression of stunned surprise on the Brit's face, Alfred suddenly realized that he'd spoken his last thought aloud. Somehow Arthur caught it even over the roar of the engines. Then that lovely face eased into wonder and elation. His smile very nearly broke all of of the vampire's resolve.

Suddenly, the whole cabin jerked and they were thrown up against each other as they came to a rocky landing. The moment lost, Alfred disentangled himself from the Brit, hauling himself up to his feet. "Don't they tell you to buckle up?" he complained, rubbing his aching side.

"You'll live," Arthur chuckled, using Alfred's hand to prop himself up to his feet. "There will be a car waiting. Do you have all your things?"

 _Thank God I double-wrapped Kiku's urn._

Alfred nodded and hauled up his backpack, which contained Kiku's urn and passcon, some clothes, food, and momentos. Not unlike the contents of his backpack he'd hauled around for fifty some years in exile. He did wish he still had his Cyke. It made him slightly edgy to not have a means of quick escape.

It took another few moments for the plane to taxi to a stop. The huge bay door cracked open, rays of blood-red dusklight prying into the dark cargo hold. Alfred pulled out a pair of sunglasses, which Arthur immediately scoffed at. "You look ridiculous," he said as they walked down to the tarmac.

"You're just jealous," Alfred replied with a smirk, spotting the sleek black town car and driver waiting for them. Beyond that, he saw the beginning of the sprawl of greater London. While London itself pretty much didn't change, that didn't exactly apply to the suburbs, which seemed to only grow in size and technological advances. The spread of development had long stopped crawling outwards and instead worked upwards, leaving a distinct line between urban and rural. One-family homes were exchanged for tall solar paneled condos with hydroponic farms dotting the rooftops. Not unlike the developments in the good ol' US of A. Except here, cars were a thing of the past. Those that did appear were exclusively electric and almost all branded with some sort of rental company service. Everyone else just stuck to Cykes or rail.

Alfred eyed the black town car again warily. This thing was going to stick out like a black helicopter. Maybe that was the point.

"Coming?" Arthur asked, a foot already in the vehicle.

"Yeah," Alfred replied, taking a reluctant step forward into the car. "Where are we going anyway?" he asked as they got settled.

"Our satellite branch is in the Gherkin," Arthur replied as the car started and took them down the M4. "Though we do have some offices dotted around the countryside. Particularly Salisbury," he added and suddenly tensed.

Not without reason as Alfred almost let out a bark of laughter. Seriously, they'd been studying stonehenge and superhenge _forever_ and they still didn't know what was up with that place. It vexed Arthur to no end, since his own personal theory was that the druids were able to use weather magic using the stones. _'If we were able to control the weather, it would be like manna from heaven in our efforts to combat climate change,'_ he'd rant as Alfred rolled his eyes and complained about going to Wiltshire _again_.

Alfred only just managed to keep himself to an amused grin while Arthur twitched. Then he relaxed, as though finally seeing the humor in the inside joke. Those were the good times, after all.

Content to savor the shared memory, the pair of them remained silent in the car ride. Alfred's gaze drew to the environment around them, seeing how much had changed as they approached London. Of course, he'd avoided the place like the plague during his self-exile, what with how strong Arthur's ties were to his homeland.

Arthur had politicians on both sides of the pond firmly in his pocket, a thought that made Alfred cringe as he remembered just how Arthur had spiraled out of control. However, while he blatantly abused his power in the U.S. Congress to put up with the Watchers' shady activities and put the environmental lobby in the forefront, he seemed to use Parliament to preserve his home as much as possible. Which made Alfred seriously wonder how much Arthur had to do with the repeated failed referendums for Scotland to secede from the Union.

In any case, probably in all thanks to a certain immortal's interfering, the City of London looked almost exactly the same. Its collage of low-rise facades dated back millennia, each building like a snapshot in time. With exception to maybe a few new glass and solar skyscrapers to join the Gherkin and the Shard.

And of course, the people. Their fashions changed as often as every decade, which made it almost impossible for people as old as Alfred and Arthur to keep up. Alfred looked out to see flowing sleeves and trousers, the cuts distinctly reminding him of the 1970s, though it wasn't nearly as colorful (thank god). Probably in reaction to the warmer climate. It was warmer everywhere and the sun more deadly. Enough to warrant ubiquitous loose UV-proof clothing.

Which was _totally unfair._ Why didn't they come up with that shit _centuries_ ago when he didn't have his bone ring?

Well, he _knew_ , but it was still worth sulking over.

"What's that look for?" his companion asked with a laugh as Alfred openly scowled out the window. The vampire looked over to see Arthur's eyes lit up with amusement. The Brit was probably watching him the whole time, seeing the myriad of expressions flicker over Alfred's face as he was deep in thought.

"Nothing," Alfred replied grumpily, pulling himself straighter as the Gherkin appeared around the corner. His stomach fluttered in a sudden bout of nerves, wondering if he was ever going to see the outside of the building ever again. That would be _horrifying,_ being trapped inside a building that looked like a dildo for the rest of his life.

Alfred nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand cover his own. He looked up, meeting his former lover's green eyes. "It's going to be okay," Arthur promised softly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. The vampire could only nod as their car entered the garage.


	5. Chapter 5

Well. So the Gherkin was kind of a boring office building. Alfred was more than a little disturbed by how _normal_ it looked, all things considered. As they came into the granite-floored lobby from the parking garage, he looked on to see a small cafe, a reception desk and several suits heading to work with coffee in hand. He scanned the floor directory and saw only generic region-specific names like Asia Division, Africa Division. The UK had its own division naturally, labelled Homeland Division. From the look of it, they may as well just be in some financial group's main headquarters.

"Good morning, Mr. Kirkland," the receptionist said brightly as the pair of them came up. Her monitor _blipped_ and without a pause, she added, "Welcome to our offices, Mr. Jones."

For some reason, that startled Alfred a bit more than it should have, forcing him to a stop by the desk. "No, no. Alfred is fine," he said quickly. Mr. Jones? Nobody had ever called him Mr. Jones in the whole of his unnatural life. It was _weird._

Amused, Arthur glanced at the vampire out of the corner of his eye and paused on his way to the elevator. "Don't mind him," he told the young lady, "Americans are quite informal. Alfred, please follow me. We're heading to Research."

Flashing the receptionist a brief smile, Alfred jogged after him and into the open elevator. The Watcher pulled out a badge and touched it to a small pad. Then he pressed a number of floors in quick succession. Like a keypad. With a sudden jolt in the elevator that mirrored the drop in Alfred's stomach, the box started downwards to levels that weren't even labeled. His nerves racing, Alfred stifled them by giving Arthur a small smile. "You're really going for the whole MI-6 thing, aren't you?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous," Arthur huffed, before his lips stretched into a smirk. "This is much cooler than that."

The elevator halted, opening up to a dark corridor. For a second, it looked to Alfred like they'd wandered into the Tube. Then he realized that the stone archways were so much older than that. Not to mention there was a subterranean _river_ flowing along the walkway lit only by a string of pale blue lights along the arched ceiling.

Alfred's jaw dropped as he stepped out to observe their surroundings. Okay, he had to admit that this was pretty cool. "What..." he started, his fingers touching the carved stone.

"It's Roman," the Brit explained, his voice softly echoing in the chamber. He stepped out and bid the vampire follow. "Lost for millennia underneath London. So it's even older than you are," he added, giving Alfred a sly look.

The vampire merely scoffed at that. There were quite a few things in the UK that were older than he was, but millennia older was certainly something. "Seems kinda damp," he commented, as Arthur led him through this veritable labyrinth. "Then again, so's most of these droopy islands," he added, earning himself an annoyed look.

"I thought you said you came from here," Arthur said, as the echoes of other voices began to dimly muddle through the silence. "Shouldn't you be showing a bit more reverence to your _actual_ homeland?"

"Don't really remember," Alfred mused, smiling to himself as he knew that this always annoyed the proud Brit. "I know I at least passed by, but it can't have been all that memorable since it was all a blur." Predictably, Arthur opened his mouth to argue. However, rapid footsteps sounded in their direction and he was forced to stifle the impending rant for another time.

A young blond in a dark robe hurried by them, barely giving the Watcher commander a second look as he rushed towards the elevators. He didn't look any older than a teenager. "Trainee?" Alfred asked, eyebrow raised as they resumed their course.

"More like intern," Arthur said as they turned a corner where the echoing was now deafening.

The narrow passage opened up to an enormous hall, where a number of robed mages were practicing their craft on straw sack dummies. Making them freeze up or flame or explode depending on what they were doing. Very old school. Alfred looked on in interest, nearly bumping into the Watcher who'd stopped once more. Blinking, the vampire turned his attention back to Arthur, wondering why he'd stopped this time. What he saw damn near broke his heart.

Arthur watched the mages at work with such ardent longing that the vampire had to turn away from the intensity of it. From what Toris told Alfred, so many years ago, the Brit had such a _talent_ for magic. Well, all living things had it, whether they knew it or not, but it normally took years to develop. Not like Arthur, who took to it like a fish to water. He'd only learned maybe five spells in the span of a few weeks, but he'd cast them as though he'd been doing so since the day he was born.

Maybe that was really why this research station was in England instead of Texas. Because it was just too painful for Arthur to be constantly reminded of what he'd lost.

Alfred was about to reach out to him, to give him a brief consoling gesture just so Arthur's longing expression would stop making his chest ache with pity. However, the Brit spun away too quickly, turning his gaze back to the path ahead. "They'll be in here. They're waiting for us," Arthur spoke, his voice low and thick as he continued down to another dark stone corridor.

Only to be stopped _again_ when Arthur halted in front of a wooden door and pulled something from his pocket. "Here," he said, pinning something that looked like a gold marshal badge to the vampire's chest. An encircled pentagram. "This will keep you safe."

Alfred didn't dare ask from _what._ Instead, he followed close behind as Arthur opened the door. The air crackled like a whips of energy that made Alfred's hair stand on end. Before them was a simple stone passageway littered with bright white chips that smelled like human bone. His stomach dropped at the sight of the creepy ass beach of bones. Terrified, Alfred clutched tightly to Arthur's hand as they crunched over it to yet another door.

This one, thank _God,_ was just a normal- _ish_ stone room with a round wooden table. Tapestries lined the five walls inscribed with some weird text that Alfred couldn't read. All of them had unnamed doors leading off in different directions. It took Alfred another minute to realize that most of the seats around the table were filled. Seven of them, in fact. All of them were dressed in soot black robes with red trim and lining, matching the colors of the Watchers. Not to mention they were all _blond._ Not that he had anything against blondes (obviously), but still.

 _Wow, way to not look like a Satanic Nazi cabal,_ Alfred thought, as the big cheese went to address them.

"Everyone, thank you for taking some time from your schedules in regards to this private matter," Arthur told them. "I wanted to introduce Alfred Jones, my vampire..." he stopped short and Alfred could see him struggling to define their current relationship. He arched an eyebrow waiting for Arthur to continue. "My vampire," Arthur finally settled upon.

...In the immortal's own words, _Oi._

"This is a matter of some delicacy and Alfred felt more comfortable explaining it in person," Arthur continued, deliberating avoiding the vampire's glare. "Alfred, would you mind?"

Huffing, Alfred turned to face the group, smelling their blood and feeling their hearts them as best he could. They all _seemed_ normal, which was promising. Last thing he needed was to spill his secrets to another Vlad in the making. However, they were all giving him expectant looks, so he figured he should say something.

"Um, yeah, thanks everyone for coming. What he said," Alfred said, pointing a thumb in the immortal's direction. "I think the gist of it is, Arthur put a Collar spell on me ages ago and it's got my own magic working against me to do whatever Arthur commands me to. Now we can't get it off because Arthur went all anti-magic or whatever and he can't even take the spell off me if he wanted to. Which he does. _Right?_ " he asked, looking to Arthur for confirmation.

"That is exactly right," the Brit nodded. "I am willing to give you all the research I have in regards to this matter and hope that you can do what you can to resolve this."

There was an exchange of looks around the table. Then one of the shorter blonds said slowly, "Not to point out the obvious, but Arthur _why_ do you want to take the Collar off this vampire? Seems to me, he'd make less trouble."

"Ah, well," Arthur started awkwardly as he felt the heat of Alfred's glare on him again. "It... er... this Collar is not quite conducive to a healthy relationship. There are things that can be said that should not be taken as literal command."

A pause.

Suddenly, one of the spiky haired blonds let out a cackle, "Oh in _bed,_ you mean!" causing both Arthur and Alfred to flush with embarrassment. Only Alfred had the luxury of not glowing nearly as brightly as Arthur did.

" _Yes_ , if you must be so crude," Arthur hissed, looking as though he wanted to find the nearest club and beat the man over the head with it. The looks that the Cabal gave Alfred were now tinged with a certain amount of sly curiosity that made the vampire seriously reconsider coming in the first place. "Now, will you assist me with this? I would take it as a _great, personal favour,_ " Arthur grit out through his teeth.

"Well~ I suppose when you put it _that_ way," the spiky one said, giving the pair of them an arrogant smirk. Snapping his fingers, he pointed to one of the other blonds. "You, why don't you go fetch one of the Soul Sensors and we'll see what's going on here."

Alfred narrowed his eyes and wondered he ought to entrance _this_ one into looking into Kiku's books for him. Then he decided it was probably too much of a headache (literally). This guy looked like (or at least thought he was) head honcho of this group. Who knew if he had any defenses against vampires or if he'd be missed in the group. It would probably be better off trying to see if he could look into any databases first. If these people had anything that wasn't on paper, that is. _Sigh_.

"What good would a Soul Sensor do?" Arthur demanded as one of the twins scampered off to retrieve whatever the heck it was. "We already know what's happening."

"Pssht, leave this to the ones who can actually _do_ magic," spiky-head replied haughtily, turning his attention to the door the young girl left to. Alfred winced, watching the way the words burned Arthur like molten shame, his face growing white and cold.

The girl returned, carrying what looked like a pair of geek-chic red rimmed glasses. "Here, put these on," spiky-head said, holding them out to the justifiably wary vampire.

"These do what now?" Alfred asked, reluctantly taking the frames. They were actually quite heavy in his hands and he realized that the frames must be made of precious gem.

"Look into your soul. See how you tick. That sort of thing," spiky-head replied. "Oh, don't worry. Doesn't hurt. Just need to see what's going on when Arthur actually commands you to do something."

Alfred made a sound like a cat being brushed the wrong way. Oh, well, _great_. The Brit _had_ warned him that might happen, but he didn't exactly like it. Looking over to Arthur, the man only replied with a strained smile and a faint nod. Yeah, no. Not really reassuring. But really, what could go wrong?

Which was exactly what he told himself when Arthur wanted to put the Collar on him in the first place...

 _Well, these can only look. They can't actually do anything._ Swallowing hard, he put his own lenses into his pocket and put the Soul Sensor on. Instantly, the lenses illuminated and an image of a dark, squiggly lump of black strings appeared above their heads. The male twin brought out a modded omni-recorder, holding it out to capture all sensory data in the room.

"Well," one blond said as they all looked up at the ugly black blob looming above them, "it's actually not bad. For a vampire."

With a sinking feeling, Alfred suddenly realized what the inky darkness was. "That's my _soul_?" he asked, voice hushed. He didn't think that vampires even _had_ them, but he wished he had gone on in ignorance. Instead, he just felt sick. Oh, he knew he wasn't _good_ , by any stretch of the imagination. But he'd been hoping he was better. Something grey-ish maybe, but not...

"It's just a best guess," a voice spoke behind him as the blond cabal studied the image. Arthur briefly took his hand in a comforting gesture, giving it a small squeeze. "Like trying to explain 3D with a 2D image. The colour and shape does not matter. I know you have a good heart." His lips quirked into a wry smile. "You know, the Soul-Sensor doesn't even work on me, magical object and whatnot, so I do not even have a soul by all accounts."

...That didn't exactly make him feel any better.

But... it was nice that he tried. A warm feeling flooded his chest unbidden as Alfred faintly squeezed the hand back.

"There's definitely some significant damage," the soft spoken female twin said, timidly looking in the vampire's direction. "You've under someone else's control more than once?" Alfred winced, but nodded. "Ah, yes, there's a lot of trauma. Have you maybe thought about therapy?"

 _Oh honey._

Nonetheless, Alfred gave the young lady a toothy grin. "I'm flattered you're worried about my mental health."

"She isn't," her twin replied, in a tone abrasive and curt. "No one wants a vampire on a rampage. Much less one that can walk in daylight," he added with a significant look at Alfred's bone ring.

Alfred gave him a flat look. "Hey, I'm feeling awfully discriminated against here. I haven't killed anyone in a hundred years, you know."

"And it's just a coincidence that your soul is dead ugly," the twin (he was seriously going to have to learn their names) sniped back. A wave of indignation coursed through Alfred like a rabid cat, every hair follicle rising on end. _Him._ _He_ was the one who was getting the ugly end of his hypno-stick soon as he could get him alone and corner him.

"Enough with the bickering already!" spiky-head cried out. "Can we just get on with this?" His words sent the room back into an uneasy tense silence. "Arthur, go ahead and order him to do something."

A sharp shred of fear cut through his hot anger like a hot knife through butter. Alfred subconsciously held his breath, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the command. "Hey, hey! Eyes open. We can't see anything!" spiky-head called to him.

Gently, a hand traced over his arm and Arthur's soft voice whispered to him. "It's alright. It's alright, love," he said, sweet and reassuring. "Just open your eyes."

The command lurched something in his chest and compulsion forced his body do as it was bid. It made a cold sweat break over his skin, fighting with everything to _not do it-_ He opened his eyes, nausea and betrayal pooling in his stomach.

"Well that was no good," spiky-head muttered. "We didn't see anything. Tell him to do something else."

The vampire hissed softly, his body betraying him again but in the tension radiating from him in waves. However, Arthur said instead, "What would you have me bid you do?"

"Wha-? Oh. Um," Alfred replied dumbly, unprepared. "Touch my nose, I guess?"

"Very well," the Brit smiled. "Touch my nose." Once again there was that lurching, undeniable compulsion, bidding him do this ridiculous thing. For a split second, Alfred thought he could touch his own first, but before he knew it he had a finger tap the tip of Arthur's nose. Then he immediately snatched his hand away, his body shaking with fraught nerves. He looked away from Arthur's sad look, the one that said ' _even something so small?_ ', turning his attention to the group for their verdict.

"Well, it certainly looks like the soul is working against itself. It's attacking its own will. No sign of external forces. It's kind of sick actually," a friendly-faced blond said, one that didn't look like a solid sheet of ice. "It may actually be causing irreparable harm. We should-"

Alfred's head was beginning to spin, the room swaying precariously in front of him. Mentally fleeing off into some delirious form of distraction, Alfred dubbed the one still speaking, 'Happy'. Spiky-head could be 'Spiky'. Then there were the twins 'Snappy' and 'Honey' and the 'Icicles Three.' He let out a faintly hysterical giggle, which earned him a very concerned look from 'Mr. Fuhrer' next to him.

One of the Icicles said, "Perhaps we could try to put another Collar on him, then remove it. It may take the original off as well."

" _NO!"_

The cry stopped everyone dead as surely as being dropped into a vat of ice. They stared over at the source as Alfred did all he could to try not to completely lose it.

"I think he's had enough," Arthur interjected, taking the Soul Sensor off. The black blob above winked out of sight. "We should let him get some rest and something to eat. You can brainstorm for a bit and let us know if you have any other ideas later." He gently tugged at the vampire's hand, pulling him towards the door.

Alfred scarcely noticed as he was led over the bone path and through the underground river path. His mind was dizzy with a headache, nerves frazzled and stomach heaving. He blinked stupidly as bright electric light flooded his vision as the elevator doors opened up to the Gherkin's main lobby.

"I have a flat nearby," the immortal told him softly, still leading him by the hand. "You can put your head down there. I'll make sure we get you some blood packs. I know you're a bit overwhelmed, love, but you were very brave."

The vampire could only nod. The pair strayed out into the dark street, walking just a block until they came up to some modest high-rise.

~o~

It turned out that by "flat", the immortal actually meant penthouse.

Stretching out in bed after a very, very long nap, the vampire yawned and looked around to their surroundings. Alfred couldn't fully recollect where exactly they were or how he'd gotten there. Only that Arthur had essentially tucked him in and put him to sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around the spacious robin blue bedroom, finding himself alone. A quick check of himself told him he'd also slept in just his boxers. Hmm.

Too hungry to care at the moment, the vampire tread through the unfamiliar rooms, passing by a rather normal looking living room and dining room until he arrived at the kitchen. There he heard clanging as he heard someone deliberately making noise, competing with the feeling of nothingness there. Arthur looked up from the breakfast bar with his 'meal' of burnt toast, eggs and tea and smiled as he saw Alfred enter. "Good morning. There's some blood in the fridge, if you're hungry."

"Mrnng," the vampire mumbled back sleepily, shuffling over to the fridge and finding the crimson packs as promised. Sucking down two in quick succession, he felt almost human again. _Ha_.

"Did you sleep well?" the Watcher queried behind him, making light conversation. Alfred turned to see the Brit all but glowing happily as he watched him. It was a little... strange.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" Alfred asked, frowning as he poured some hot water from the kettle over a blood bag to warm it up.

At that, a very pretty flush spread over Arthur's cheeks as he grew flustered, diverting his attention back to his eggs. "Ah, well, this is... nice. It's been a long time since we've had breakfast together. I missed it." He glanced up, giving Alfred a hopeful look. "Did you?"

"...I didn't not miss it," Alfred replied evasively, after a pause. He did, however, sit himself down across from Arthur with his mug of warm blood, much in the way they used to. Alright, he did miss this. A lot. Like falling asleep with his favorite pillow after two years of sleeping on rocks. He looked out through the tall window, taking in the sight of the City glowing in morning light. "How long was I out?"

"A solid ten hours," the Brit told him, taking a sip of tea. "You should get more rest, love," he fussed, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of Alfred's face. "You've been so stressed lately and whatever projects you're working on are wearing you down. It's no wonder you had a near meltdown."

Arthur never really did shake his habit of being a mother hen, even after realizing that his nineteen year old beau was hundreds of years older than him. It was either sweet and endearing or really freakin' _annoying_ , depending on Alfred's mood. Right now, it was halfway in between.

Alfred pulled his head away from Arthur's fingers, but didn't otherwise rebuke him. "It's that place," he decided to answer. "Daedalus. I hate it there." He watched the Brit's expression turn crestfallen, but he pressed on anyway. "Something about it drives me crazy."

"But you're safe there..." Arthur argued half-heartedly, the emotions behind his voice strained from an argument long worn out. "And I can make you more comfortable there. You can stay with me. You don't need to hide down in the basement the entire time."

The vampire sighed. Arthur just wasn't getting it. It was everything that whole campus represented. The pristine eco-city on a hill, hiding such an ugly, tainted soul within. _Not unlike my own,_ he thought wryly. His virus had been running for a long while now, gathering up as much data as he could about all the unsavory activity the Watchers engaged in. The Necessary Evil, Arthur called it. Every fresh new data dump he got from the terminal in the labs (not from his own lab, he wasn't born _yesterday_ ) just unveiled how sick and corrupt the entire organization had become. So far, he hadn't done anything with it, waiting to strike until something truly heinous was about to go down. It was just... easier to pretend it wasn't happening if he wasn't actually _there._ The thought made a wave of guilt roil in his stomach, crushing his appetite.

Into the strained silence, Arthur suddenly broke in, "We don't need to go back. I could make a place for you somewhere else. New York? Tokyo? Here?" He was so earnest, the vampire didn't doubt he'd do exactly as he promised.

Alfred closed his eyes, the temptation to say ' _Yes'_ burning as bright and hot as his need for fresh blood. But he couldn't even imagine trying to make nanotech without a certain zombie's help or all the resources that Daedalus offered. Slowly, he forced himself to shake his head. "No," he said thickly, "This is... this is really nice, Artie. Really, _really_ nice. But I need to continue my work there..."

The first sign of _something_ shone in Arthur's eyes. Not suspicion, since the Brit gave those to him frequently enough. No. He was _wary._ The sight of it made the vampire's shoulders prickle with unease. "I wish you would tell me what you were working on," Arthur said, his voice and eyes harder than before. Alfred could _see_ the temptation to simply order him to spill the beans rising up in his gaze.

Suddenly, the phone rang, jarring both of them out of the tense moment. Having the feeling he'd just literally been saved by the bell, Alfred stayed very still as the Brit attended to his caller. A cold sweat had broken out over his skin, feeling more than a little rattled. Arthur wasn't going to take his excuses for very much longer. He was going to have to do something to keep the Watcher commander happy and off his back.

Returning to the kitchen, Arthur said curtly, "The team has some ideas. I'm going to head back and discuss it with them. Would you like to come with me or would you rather stay here?"

The memory of the sick crunch of human bone made a shiver of dread roll down Alfred's spine. "Um... can I just hang out in the upstairs part?" he suggested instead. "Then you can just fetch me if you need me for anything." Plus, if he got onto the office's Wifi, he'd be all set for digging into their databases.

Arthur arched an eyebrow, as if he could somehow sense the ulterior motive. "There would hardly be anything for you to do there. You'd probably be bored stiff. You could just stay here and watch TV instead."

 _Shit_. The immortal would have let him do whatever he wanted just five minutes ago. He really messed up big time. Alfred let out a laugh that cracked with nervousness. "Ah-ha, yeah, you're probably right. I just _really_ don't want to go in the basement again. It's really creepy down there. I want to be helpful though. You know that I'll do whatever I can to make sure this Collar comes off," he said quickly, hoping his sudden bout of nerves could be passed off for earnestness.

Thankfully, that seemed to appease the Brit, who visibly relaxed. "Hmm, I suppose it is a bit of a shock for someone of your sensibilities." Which was Arthur's nice way of saying he was a complete wuss. "Well, it's up to you. I'll leave you a couple bodyguards, so you can go your own way as you choose."

"...Bodyguards?" Alfred echoed dumbly.

"Naturally," Arthur replied nonchalantly. "I did tell you there have been several attempts on my life lately. It would seem strange if someone in my position didn't take some measures. Normally, I leave them with those I worry about becoming collateral damage." He reached out, cupping Alfred's cheek and giving him a fond smile. "And there's no one I care about more than you."

The vampire didn't even bother hiding his unhappy pout.

"Alfred, please...?" the Watcher entreated softly. Alfred _knew_ this was one thing the Brit was unlikely to budge on. All things considered, it wasn't terrible. He didn't want to raise Arthur's suspicions even more either. He'd just have to figure out how to get what he needed while he was being watched.

" _Fine_ ," Alfred said with a very put-upon sigh, watching Arthur's smile widen. "How about I follow you to the building and I'll decide what to do then." Alfred looked down at his attire. "Where the hell are my pants anyway?"

He smiled to himself when he saw Arthur blink and then break into a laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

Alfred could _feel_ his bodyguards lurking in the front of the empty coffee shop, watching him as he fiddled around on his wrist console. They _couldn't_ know what he was up to. He was entirely too good at what he did. Yet their pulses were just slightly elevated, betraying their stony expressions. They were on high alert, whether it was _for_ Alfred's well being or _because_ of him. After all, they _probably_ knew he was a vampire... right?

In any case, their heart beats were really annoying. Like two tiny fruit flies buzzing around his head as he tried to work. And work he did as he crawled through the Watcher database like Tom Cruise sliding through air ducts.

It really was a piece of cake getting onto their network. He didn't even have to capital-E entrance the receptionist as he gave her a charming smile and asked what the wifi password was. Then he puttered around the office building for a bit, playing online solitaire, before declaring his intentions that he wanted to go _out._ Now all he did was hook up to the coffee shop's wifi and locked into his various proxy servers before accessing the Watcher database again. Really, he'd done it on numerous occasions in his fifty years in exile, so this was a bit like running through a corn maze he knew by heart.

Only difference was that he'd never tried accessing this specific branch's network before. Honestly, he hadn't felt the need. Now he was getting tripped up on encryptions that were using a completely different algorithm than Daedalus itself. He didn't doubt that the key was probably on Arthur's personal console and _only_ his.

Alfred glowered at it, wondering how he was going to get around it. He could try to get onto Arthur's computer, which was back in _Texas._ Or he could build himself another decryption algorithm built just for this network, which would take _days_. _Or_ he'd have to somehow get it from inside the Gherkin. Maybe entrance some other Watcher employee into giving him the keys to the kingdom.

"Caffe Americano, sir," the waitress, a young redhead, said. She put the tall ceramic cup in front of him with a smile.

"Thanks," Alfred beamed back. Caffe Americano was his drug of choice when he was on the run and he needed to lay low in a coffee shop to kill a few hours. It was mostly harmless water and a shot of espresso which didn't do him much intestinal distress. Plus nobody asked any questions when he augmented it with whatever he had in his flask.

The vampire was about to pull out said silver flash, engraved with a beautifully flourished _A,_ when he noticed something... odd. There was something a little extra added to his coffee. Something that would normally be undetectable to the human senses. Something like... rohypnol?

Alfred blinked. Was he about to get date raped? Well, not that the drugs would work. His body just didn't process drugs like humans do. Still, this was not good. He forced himself to look back at his console, trying to figure out who would do this to him. Who would _want_ to do this to him.

That's when he noticed the annoying buzz of his bodyguards' hearts begin to slow just a bit. He glanced up in their direction, looking at the coffee that they were both drinking. _Them too?_

There was no doubt about it. He was being targeted. Although, they can't know _what_ he is. Other than whoever it was, they must be after _Arthur._ After all, the Brit did say he had enemies out there. They must have seen Arthur accompany him around town. In fact, they might be watching him right now.

So... what to do? Not drink the coffee and run back to Arthur? Or drink it and see where the rabbit hole goes?

In front of the cafe, he felt the guards' heartbeats slow even more and their bodies imperceptibly slumped. With as casual an air as he could muster, Alfred locked his wrist console. Then he took a long, healthy sip of coffee.

~o~

Alfred was _very_ good at playing dead. Now though, he just had to play unconscious, so his abductors didn't think they'd killed him.

There were four of them total. One of them was the (fake?) cafe waitress, no surprise there. The others were a variety of ages, silently tying him up and dropping him roughly onto the floor of what he assumed was a delivery truck. Once the electric motor was whirring and the van started moving, they began to gab in hushed accented voices. Similar to Arthur's, but not quite.

"We're in the clear?"

"Yeah, we should be long gone by the time those goons and the waitress wake back up."

"You sure this guy's okay? He looks _dead._ "

Oops. He started breathing again to put them at ease.

"No, look, he's _fine._ He's probably never been outside of Daedalus before. Those guys always look pasty. Go ahead and search him. Make sure he doesn't have any weapons."

Then there was the _very_ awkward process of getting groped and manhandled. They took his wrist console and his flask. He didn't have anything else on him, all his things back at the flat. They didn't check what was _in_ the flask as they took it away. What nearly made him give up the act was when they brushed over his bone ring. Thankfully, they left that alone and consequently, him _whole_.

"Not even an ID. Spoiled git."

"Whatever. Kirkland will know we've taken him. If he likes this guy as much as we think, he'll follow our demands."

Yikes, these people had _no idea_ how much they really stepped in it. It made Alfred feel sorry for them to be honest.

"You're counting on Kirkland to actually _have_ a heart."

"Well I've never seen him attach any guards to his boytoys before."

It took a long minute for Alfred to process what his abductor just said. Boytoys? Boy Toys? As in, boys he toyed with?!

... _What?!_

A second later, Alfred realized that he'd said that aloud when everyone zipped up into a shocked silence and the van stopped into a screeching halt. His eyes opened and he looked up in the dark van to see three stunned faces staring down at him, a fourth from the driver's seat. Giving up the ghost, Alfred sat up and gave the group a winning smile. "Oh, hey there. Sorry about that. Had to fake it in case anyone saw you kidnapping me. So what are these demands of yours?"

Finally, the fake-waitress worked her jaw into speaking. "You- you were supposed to be drugged!"

Alfred made a noncommittal hum at that. Their fast beating hearts were starting to get a _little_ distracting and he didn't have the concentration to make up some plausible lie on the fly. Instead he said, "Look, Ar- Kirkland's going to go ballistic when he finds out I'm gone and that's going to make it really, really bad for me when I get out of here. Plus he'll destroy _you_ once he gets his hands on you."

There was an uneasy silence.

"Look, what do you guys want exactly? Money? Fame?" Alfred pressed, looking between the four. All a bit rough around the edges with skin darkened with freckles from staying too much in the sunlight. They all looked vaguely related. Like redheaded cousins. Maybe he'd made a misstep and gotten himself kidnapped by a not-so-morally-justified gang.

Thankfully one scruffy one finally said, "We mean t'be takin' down Kirkland, the Watchers, n' their nefarious schemes."

The hell? Did he think he was a pirate or what? Still, he could work with this.

"Yeah, well good luck taking down Kirkland. That's pretty much impossible," Alfred said, wondering if these were the same people who'd been trying in futility to assassinate the Brit. Internally, he knew he'd probably be a bit more upset about that if Arthur wasn't immortal. "I'm guessing that's why you've resorted to abducting me. Luckily for you, I'm also not a huge fan of the Watchers. Here, pass me my wrist console and I'll show you."

The three men and the woman exchanged a reluctant look.

"You can turn off the signal if you're worried about me contacting anyone," the vampire told them sweetly. This situation, in dark close quarters with a bunch of human simpletons, was working in his favor as his body began to exude his hunter pheromones. The stuff worked wonders, making them all so dazed and _compliant._ They unbound him without another peep, giving him his wrist console back.

Alfred tried to rein himself in as best he could. He did want them to remember _something_ , after all this. Still, the cat was out of the bag, so to speak. "Spare drive, please," he told them and was handed several at once. Taking it, he plugged it into his console and immediately uploaded all of the information he'd collected on the Watchers thus far.

Along with a little something extra. He didn't believe they were completely altruistic after all.

"Here," he said, tossing it over to one of the men. "This will get you started. You can leak it to the press, blackmail the Watchers with it. Whatever. _Just don't link it back to me_ ," he added with a sharp snap that made their spines ramrod straight. "Now, drop me off a block from the cafe. I can walk myself back."

No answer. By then, the pheromones had pretty much turned their brains into mush. Sighing, Alfred gathered up his things and then let himself out of the van. The open door would clear their heads quickly enough. He just hoped that they could at least remember what a treasure trove he'd just given them.

For now though, he had to run back before Arthur found out he was ever missing.

~o~

 _...never seen him attach any guards to his boytoys before..._

 _...attach any guards to his boytoys before..._

The words wouldn't shake from Alfred's mind. Even after his self-congratulatory pat on the back for both taking the Watchers down a peg _and_ making it back without anyone noticing. Oh, the words dimmed for a little while, sure. At least until he'd come back to the flat after his all too eventful day.

Then it struck _hard,_ making him wonder, wonder, _wonder..._ Wonder if Arthur had brought anyone else to this flat. Wonder if Arthur had cooked for them. Wonder if Arthur had slept with them in the bed he'd given Alfred. Wonder if they were warm and pretty. Wonder if he kept in touch with them. Wonder if he _loved_ any of them. Wonder _just how many_ boytoys an immortal slut could sleep with in the span of _fifty years_.

Then, he'd "accidentally" found a pair of bright fluorescent briefs that he _knew_ Arthur would never wear lying behind the headboard.

Needless to say, he wasn't quite in the right frame of mind when the Brit came back to the flat.

"Love, I'm home," Arthur called out from the foyer.

"Get the hell out!" the vampire howled, soon punctuated by a vase shattering by the wall next to the Brit's head.

Arthur's eyes were so comically wide, Alfred would have laughed if he wasn't so pissed. His hand was still on the knob of the front door, looking as though he'd just as soon walk straight back out. "A-Alfred? What's going on?" he stammered, deciding to brave a vampire's wrath. _Big_ mistake.

"What the hell is this?!" Alfred demanded, throwing the lime green spandex briefs at Arthur's face. They fluttered awkwardly, hitting the Brit's shoulder instead. "Something that belongs to one of your little flings?!"

"Flings?" Arthur asked, trying to keep up the stupid act, but the cringe of guilt that went through him was all too telling. When Alfred's venomous glower only worsened, one that would stun any normal human into a stupor, he quickly gave up the pretense. "I- Alright, yes," he admitted, shutting the door behind him. He edged carefully in an arc around the vampire towards the living room. He kept his eyes on him and his hands up in a placating manner as if he were a snarling predator. Which he was.

"It was just a couple people. A few. Honestly, they were _meaningless_. I don't even remember their names," the Brit tried to explain, his voice growing more pitched as he tried to calm his irate vampire down. Then his voice grew softer, fonder, "Alfred, not one of them, not _all_ of them together, could ever possibly amount to the depth of- of raw emotion I feel for you."

"You've never been this articulate about your feelings before. Did you pick that up from one of them?" Alfred growled, lashing out when he could feel the Brit's soft tone playing him like fiddle.

Arthur gaped at him. "We were on a break!" he cried.

That logic couldn't be faulted. In fact, they were all but completely broken. Still, the vampire hissed sharply in reply, the words like salt rubbing into a raw wound. "I never saw anyone else the entire time! It's not my fault you can't keep it in your pants!"

"Well, it's certainly not my fault you don't have any kind of sex drive," the Brit shot back, his face going bright with indignation.

"Well, I don't know why I bothered coming back to someone who's obviously moved on!" Alfred snapped. Before Arthur could retort with something else that made sense, he whirled on his heel and stormed off to the bedroom to get away. The door nearly fell off its hinges when he slammed it and he plopped down in front of it on the floor in case Arthur had the bright idea of following him.

He didn't. In fact, the Brit had gone completely ninja on the other side, silent as he went about his business. It gave Alfred plenty of time to stew, arms crossed around his legs. Then the stewing descended quickly into thinking and then the burn of humiliation inevitably crept up like leeches up his legs.

His emotions had gotten the better of him. No, they'd pretty much sucker-punched him in the gut. He was acting like some kind of human teenager with a broken heart. Not a hundreds-years-old creature of the night. He shouldn't... this shouldn't... It shouldn't _hurt so much._

A bleak sob curdled in his throat, his arms wrapping closer around himself. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. He tried valiantly to keep them at bay, when he heard a faint knock at the door.

"Alfred?" the immortal called softly. "May I come in?"

"No," Alfred called back wetly.

A sigh sounded from the other side and he could hear Arthur slide down onto the floor on the other side. "I'm sorry," the Brit spoke, near to Alfred's ear. "I truly am. I never meant to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. It just... I didn't know if you would ever come back to me and I was just so... _lonely_..."

The word was dark, heavy with the weight of decades. It echoed all too much the dull ache that had been haunting Alfred for fifty years.

"I... I'm touched that you never sought anyone out in all our time apart," Arthur continued quietly. "And you didn't waste your time coming back. I never moved on. I was always just... waiting... Hoping..." After a pause, he said, "Alfred, are you there?"

"Yeah..." the vampire replied quietly. "...You wanna come in?"

" _Yes_ ," and Alfred could feel the smile in that single word, "I would like that very much."

Alfred scooted away from the door and opened it up. He found Arthur on the ground, looking up hopefully at him. The Brit immediately went to his feet and pulled him into tight embrace. For once, Alfred just let himself fall into it. His own arms came up and tugged Arthur close, his nose pressing into Arthur's grey blond hair. "I love you," he admitted quietly. "I hate it, but I love you so much..."

"I love you too," Arthur breathed reverently. "With all my heart. But I've hurt you so badly. I wish that there was something I could do to make everything better."

Alfred only gave a small shrug, deciding there was no good way to respond. Instead, he said, "I wanna do something small. Can we just watch a movie or something?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Arthur smiled. Reluctantly, he pulled away from Alfred, only to take his hand. He squeezed it gently, pulling Alfred towards the living room. They kept holding hands as they curled up on the couch for Casablanca. As they went to the kitchen for refreshments: blood, wine and popcorn. As they cuddled up under a blanket to stave the cold. It was like neither could go without touching the other. Both of their hearts naked and vulnerable. Neither wanted this fragile peace to break, as though a harsh gust of wind might blow it to pieces. So they held onto it, bodies intertwined when sleep finally took them.

~o~

It was one of those rare mornings in London. It was warm and the pink skies bright and clear. Birdcall accompanied the rising sun, the normally busy City reverently silent in the pre-dawn. It was one of those mornings, where Alfred roused slowly. He yawned, stretching lazily. In his foggy mind, he recognized that he had a warm body underneath him on the couch, rising and falling with breath. An arm wrapped around him, holding him from falling to the floor. He smiled, letting himself doze back into a light slumber.

~o~

When Alfred awoke next, the rise was not nearly so pleasant. A sharp chill went over him as his blanket was suddenly ripped off his shoulders. The vampire let out a whine, groping for the blanket. Only to answered with a rough shake to the shoulder.

"Alfred. Alfred!" a voice snapped, immediately jolting the vampire to full wakefulness.

"Nn, wha...?" he said, looking up as he rubbed his eyes. "Arthur, wazzit?"

However, Arthur's face was cold as ice. He pulled Alfred up, yanking him into a sitting position. "When were you going to tell me you were kidnapped!" he demanded, throwing a hand towards the television screen.

Alfred's whole body went cold with dread as he recognized the cafe from the day before. A different angle sure, but that was definitely him and his two guards. The video played, showing the waitress bringing him and the bodyguards their drinks. "I got out of it," Alfred said, even as he watched himself slump over in his chair. "I didn't want to worry you. I thought you'd overreact."

"Overreact?!" Arthur screeched, throwing his remote to the ground where it cracked and clattered. "You were bloody _abducted!_ How the fuck am I supposed to react!"

"Yeah, and I can take care of myself against a bunch of amateur humans," Alfred replied, his own voice rising with heat. "I got back on my own, didn't I?" His frown deepened. "And how did you even know to look for this anyway. Were you watching me?"

"I put two bodyguards on you, of _course_ I was watching you," the Brit snapped irritably. "I found this when those two incompetent fools couldn't recollect a whole two hours of their day yesterday. During which, you'd managed to get yourself kidnapped by the Red-Headed League."

...Was that... Trust Arthur to come up with a flippin' Sherlock reference, Jesus.

"One that I managed to escape," Alfred repeated forcefully. "On my own. And that gang name doesn't sound intimidating at all, by the way."

However, Arthur was already shaking his head and pacing the room. "No, I should never have let you out of Daedalus. I should have known better," he said, muttering more to himself than speaking to the vampire. "Once you're associated with me, you have a giant target sign on your back. No, I need to get you back where you'll be _safe_."

A dark chill ran down Alfred's spine. He heard this before. He heard this _all_ before. "Arthur, _no,_ " he said, taking the immortal by the shoulders and giving him a good shake. "No, we're not doing this again. Do you understand me? You're not going to lock me up because you're being fucking paranoid, okay?"

However, the Brit only stared at him in utter incredulity. "You were _kidnapped!_ "

"And what about the Collar!" Alfred demanded, arms wide. "What about the entire reason we came here in the first place! If we don't fix this _now,_ then coming here - getting kidnapped - it would have all been for _nothing._ " His words came out as a threatening hiss. "You won't have me. You _can't_ have me. Not until this Collar is off. I told you that. Last night will never, _ever_ happen again."

That, if nothing else, seemed to knock some sense back into the Watcher. His shoulders sagged with defeat, expression growing helpless. It lasted for about a second though as some fire came back to him. "We won't stay here indefinitely. The research team has a couple of ideas. We will exhaust those and then head back home. There is no reason why they cannot continue this long distance," he decided firmly. "I can sacrifice not being with you for a while as long as I know that no harm can come to you."

Just like that, Alfred saw his chances to look into the supernatural databases snuffed out like a light. There was no way Arthur was going to let him out of his sight again until they were back in Texas. More than that, he saw the dream of living some normal domestic life with Arthur fade like the illusion that it was.

"Fine," he said, his voice strained and quiet. He shrugged off the hand that Arthur reached towards him. " _Don't touch me,_ " he snapped, ignoring the immortal's pained look as he collected his things. "I'll get everything together. I assume we're not going to come back here again."

"Alfred..." Arthur tried again, his tone pleading. "Please, try to understand. I love you."

As the vampire found Kiku's urn, he held it in his hands, thumb tracing over the etched markings. "No. This isn't love. Not a love that I want." Then he placed it into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Now. Let's go."

~o~

Honey, Spiky, Snappy, Happy and the Icicles Three looked _completely_ different outside of their sinister robes and that _awful_ room in the underground. (Arthur finally introduced them, but he was never going to remember their names.) Instead, they looked like perfectly normal businesspeople dressed up in polished suits, sitting around a circular table that just about mirrored the one downstairs. Only now they were in some executive glass boardroom overlooking London, since Alfred had flat out refused to go down _there_ again unless it was absolutely necessary.

Arthur was happy to oblige him. Most the rest of the group looked as if they'd sucked on pickled lemons.

"Well, we've tried everything else. The only thing left we can do is to try to see if putting another Collar on him will remove the first one," Happy said, though he managed to give Alfred a sympathetic look. Nonetheless, the vampire still tensed. The idea of another enslaving him was a huge pill to swallow and he was still choking it down.

Arthur looked over to him, trying to gauge his reaction. "Well, do you want to at least try it?" Though he said it nicely, it still came off as a threat. After all, they weren't going to be sticking around after this. It was straight back to Texas.

"You don't need to ask his permission," Spiky scoffed.

"No, you _do._ Good luck trying to get him to stay still long enough to put another one on him without his consent," the immortal replied, eyes narrowing.

"Then force him to stay still," Snappy retorted.

"And how will the spells react if the one on him is currently active when you're trying to put another one on him?" Arthur asked, shaking his head. "No, it has to be this way. So, Alfred. Are you willing to have another Collar put on you?"

Working his jaw slowly, the vampire replied, "You're going to take it off right away?"

"Of course," Arthur answered quickly, although the rest went back to their sour lemon looks. After a long minute, Alfred finally nodded. A proud smile crept to the immortal's face. "Good. Alright, love. Who do you want to put the Collar on you?"

"Doesn't matter..." Alfred muttered, retreating into a defensive position in his seat, arms curled around his torso. The sick feeling was returning, churning in his belly as if he'd eaten human food. He had a horrible feeling about all of this.

Arthur mulled over it for but a minute. Then he turned to Spiky. "Mathias. You do it."

"With pleasure," Mathias/Spiky replied, hopping up to his feet. He rounded over to Alfred, picking up the spellbook that one of the Icicles proffered. "Now don't plug up your ears," he said, settling himself down to relax next to the tense vampire. Arthur hovered nearby, ever overprotective, while the mage began the long, long, _long_ spell. It seemed even longer than the first time, stretching on into eternity as the repeated chanting seemed to lull him into a false sense of security. Maybe it wasn't going to work. Maybe there was no way to put a second one on, not with the first-

Then suddenly, his heart seized up, constricting painfully in his chest to illicit a sharp cry. Gripping his chair, it was all that Alfred could do not to faint as his soul was ravaged, body screaming in agony. Just as suddenly, the pain stopped. The echoes remained, ringing in bones that felt hollow and muscle stretched to their limit. A cold sweat had broken out over his white skin and he looked up.

Arthur watched him, eyes glittering. "Stand up," he commanded.

There was a twinge there, but nothing more. Alfred didn't move. He wasn't sure that he _could._

"Oh, now let me try," Mathias/Spiky cackled, waving his hands up to the ceiling. "Stand up~!" Then there it was, the twisted compulsion forcing his rattling bones upwards until he was shakily standing up on his own two feet. He gripped the arms of the chair for balance, trying to ignore the utter delight wash over the mage's face.

 _Click-click._

 **BAM!**

That gleeful expression was frozen forever on Mathias' face as his body tilted and fell to the floor. The splatter of blood and brain was accompanied by a scream and horrified shouts. Alfred just stood there, completely frozen. The spray of blood didn't even start up his feral instincts. Not when its scent was tainted and foul with that _antinatural_ poison.

Arthur turned the smoking gun to the others at the table. "Don't bother trying anything against me," he told them coolly. "You know it won't work." There was another ominous _click-click_ as he aimed at Honey. "And I am a very good shot."

None of them moved, petrified where they were. Satisfied, Arthur lowered the gun and used it to wave towards Mathias' body. "He was plotting against me. Don't deny it. I know that he's communicated as such to you." No one did deny it, either because it was true or they were too terrified to say otherwise. " _This_ ," the immortal spoke, "is what happens when you cross me. Oh, and the bullets have my blood in them. So don't bother trying to raise him from the dead."

With that, Arthur put his gun away in a holster hidden underneath his jacket. "Alfred, come," he called, waving for the vampire to follow him.

Miraculously, there was just that twinge again and nothing else. He was free.

"Alfred, come," the immortal repeated, his tone softer now. Alfred stared at that outstretched hand as if it were the door handle to the gateway to Hell. Why should he come? What obligation did he have to Arthur after all this? He got what he wanted, didn't he? He could just run, and run and _run._

But he didn't come to have the Collar removed, did he? He came because Arthur was broken. Then he saw that the Watchers were broken too. If he didn't fix this, _now_ , who would ever stand a chance?

Slowly, Alfred reached out and took Arthur's hand, letting him lead them down towards the parking garage where their car was waiting. Neither of them spoke. Alfred, because he just _couldn't_ and Arthur seemed just as happy not to. The two bodyguards from the day before were waiting for them, taking the front two seats as Arthur and Alfred slipped into the back.

It was only when they were well on the way to the airport that the Brit broke the tense silence between them. "Are you happy?"

"...What?" Alfred asked blankly, as if the words were foreign to him.

"Happy. That the Collar's off," the Watcher pressed, reaching out to take the vampire's hand. Alfred only pulled it closer to himself.

"You killed someone. Right in front of me," he retorted, voice strained with disbelief.

"Alfred, it's not as if you've never killed anyone before," Arthur chided gently. "Besides, it was for your benefit."

"My _what?_ " Alfred squawked.

"He wouldn't have taken the Collar off of you," the Brit explained, leaning back in his seat as he turned his attention to the countryside. "He may have pretended to, but then decide that he would use you against me later. As I said, he was plotting against me."

"Then why would you let him put a Collar on me in the first place!" Alfred demanded, outrage boiling his dry veins.

"Again, it was for your benefit," Arthur replied. "Even if he did take the Collar off, there was a chance that things would just revert back to the way they were. We would be back to square one. If he was killed, however, his Collar would still be in place. Your soul would work against itself only on his command, even if he is no longer living. Much like how it responded to me, despite the fact that I am essentially nonexistent in the magicka sense. So, since I planned on doing away with him anyway, this seemed a way to kill two birds with one stone. So to speak," he added, a tiny smirk quirking his lips at his own joke.

"...You're disgusting," Alfred whispered. Instantly, he regretted it, but thankfully Arthur didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

"I did what I had to do," the immortal replied, his green eyes sliding back to meet Alfred's. "There's no such thing as black or white. You don't have to like what I did, but you should at least understand it. I did this for _us_." This time, he reached out and took Alfred's hand into his own. "Once we get back, I'll let you get settled. Then we'll finally get you moved out of that lab and into my- _our_ quarters."

Arthur leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to Alfred's cheek. "Everything is going to be better, Alfred. I promise you. Everything is going to be fine."


	7. Chapter 7

"Now, Alfred, remember, I'll be back to help you move up to our quarters in a couple days. You should prepare and do what you need to so that whatever experiments you're working on can run without you present at all hours."

 _Christ, he's gotten used to being bossy again real quick,_ Alfred thought as he listened dully to Arthur over the vidcom. The Brit was clearly over the moon that the vampire was going to be moving in with him. Ever since they'd returned from London, he called Alfred just about every couple of hours with inane questions like- ' _What color do you want the room to be? What kind of sheets do you like- satin or cotton? Do you want your own office? What kind of computer do you use?'_

It would almost be cute. Almost. If it weren't for the fact that every fibre in Alfred's body was screaming that this was _wrong._

Yeah, he knew that Arthur killed people. Like collateral damage in whatever shady business the Watchers were engaged in. He didn't know that he was a cold-blooded _murderer_ who shot people with his own two hands.

 _God, I'm such a hypocrite for thinking those are two different things..._

"Alfred? Alfred, are you listening to me?"

"Mm? Oh, sorry," Alfred replied, even as he wondered how he could get out of the promise he'd made. Or even if he should. He would be as close as close can get. With that would come access, privileges and opportunities.

Arthur sighed, leaning back in his office chair. "Clearly you're distracted. Very well, I shall leave you alone. I'll see you in a couple days, love. Be safe."

 _How can I not be safe? You're keeping me imprisoned here._

However, externally he just nodded and waved. "Yup, see ya. Can't wait." He shut the call down before the Brit could drag out the painful conversation any longer. Relieved, Alfred fell back into his chair in his lab. It really had become his lab now, strewn with empty blood packs and decorated with video game paraphernalia. Kiku's urn had its own comfy spot, displayed prominently on one of the lab tables. He felt _comfortable_ here. Now he was getting uprooted all over again.

Still, it wasn't like he'd made _any_ progress on his research to warrant lab work. That whole kidnapping had thrown a giant monkey wrench into his plans. Why did he just go along with it again? That was so _stupid_. Then again, he couldn't be sure that Arthur wouldn't drag him back to Daedalus by the ear anyway, since he couldn't have stopped the bodyguards from getting dosed.

Sighing, the vampire scooted his wheeled chair along the floor from the vidcom over to his main work station. He scrolled through Kiku's research again, trying to get through all the experiments that the man had done on AN-particles and Kihon versus Dark Matter. Just trying to understand Dark Matter was enough to make his head spin, but the gist of it was ' _Oh, it's kind of like Dark Matter, but not really. Will have to do more tests.'_ Obviously, Kiku had gotten both very far and absolutely nowhere at the same time. Or else he would have just _told_ Alfred how to fix Arthur while he was still alive.

Groaning, Alfred spun around to glower over at Kiku's urn. "Damnit Kiku, why'd you have to make this all so freakin' complicated?"

" _Exactry what part of it is compricated?"_

The vampire froze. That was Kiku's voice. That was definitely Kiku's voice. It sounded like it was going through a tunnel, sure, but that was _him._ "Holy- I'm going insane," he squeaked.

" _Alfred-san, you're not going insane. Rook behind you."_

Slowly, very slowly, the vampire turned around. There in the center of the room, stood a spectral electric blue apparition of Kiku. The younger version of him that Alfred knew best, before he went on exile, dressed in one of his favorite kimonos. With a faint smile, Kiku waved at Alfred.

Alfred slowly waved back. Before he teetered over and the floor punched him in the face.

~o~

The ceiling was still spinning a little bit when the vampire roused back to consciousness. Then he realized that he was seeing the ceiling through Kiku's translucent blue face.

A very un-creature-of-the-night-like scream pierced the air as Alfred scrambled back away from the apparition to hide underneath his desk. A second later, his security guard burst into the room, gun raised. "Agent Estonia! Agent Estonia, what happened!" she demanded, looking around the room until she found the vampire cowering underneath his computer table. "Sir, what's wrong?"

Somehow the Kiku ghost managed to disappear. Alfred had no idea what to tell her that wouldn't have her racing back to Arthur to tell him his vampire boyfriend was crazy. "I, um... I thought I saw a spider," he said, pushing himself up to his feet. The guard's skepticism was almost tangible. "Seriously, it was a scary huge spider!" the vampire insisted, waving his arms wildly. "It musta had like ten legs and thirteen eyeballs or something!"

At this, the security guard replied flatly, "Do you want me to kill the spider for you?"

"Would you mind?" Alfred answered sheepishly.

The guard released one of the most exasperated sighs imaginable as she slung her gun back over her shoulder. "Where is it?"

An hour of futile searching turned up nothing, of course. Alfred almost felt bad for leading the guard on a wild goose chase, but then again he was terrified of the ghost coming back as soon as he was left alone. Eventually, the guard told him rather forcefully to kill the bug himself if he saw it again and returned back to her post.

" _Well, that took rong enough."_

It took all Alfred had not to let out another petrified shriek. "Will you- Don't _do_ that!" he squeaked, whirling around on the projection who calmly stared back. "What are you even _doing_ here? Ghosts aren't- You're a hologram, aren't you? Some sort of sick hologram that Arthur installed in here while we were away."

" _I am not a horogram."_ Kiku seemed almost offended by the accusation. Well, as offended as his stoic expressions could get anyway.

"So, what, you're..." the vampire swallowed heavily, an icy chill running down his spine, "...a ghost?"

" _Perhaps,"_ the ghost allowed. _"Most rikery, I am a manifestation of your memory of me arong with my ashes, which was exposed to magical erements while you were in Engrand. Do you know when that might be?"_

Alfred forced himself to think back. He shuddered. "That weird bone room. There was magic-electricity all over the place." Then it dawned on him as his eyes widened. "I was carrying your urn in my backpack at the time."

" _Which is, no offense, Alfred-san... is a rittle strange. Do you always carry my ashes around with you?"_ Kiku asked, not unkindly.

The vampire resisted the urge to grab Kiku's urn and hold it against him like a demented security blanket. "N-no, not always..." he said, though his guilty expression betrayed him. "Look, your death was really, really hard on me, okay? And everything else has been changing and- and I'm having a little trouble letting go here."

" _Ah, soudesune..."_ the ghost sighed gravely. _"Perhaps it is better if I do not appear again."_

"Wait, wait!" Alfred called out, trying to grab the ghost's sleeve before he disappeared. All he got was his hand feeling like it had been doused in a bucket of ice as it passed right through him. Nonetheless, he pleaded with him, even as he curled his frozen hand against his side, "Kiku- Kiku, _please._ You're my friend, aren't you? Can't you help me with all this? I'm in way over my head here."

Kiku looked reluctantly over at the wooden passcon and the computer. _"How rong have you been working?"_

"Two-three months," Alfred answered, wringing his hands as he watched the ghost think.

" _You rearize it took me decades to research, yes?"_ Kiku asked, turning those hauntingly empty eyes over in Alfred's direction. _"Two months is not very rong in the grand scheme of things."_

Once again, the vampire had to repress a shudder, but he pressed on, "N-no, you don't understand. It took me two months just to translate the Japanese."

The silence that followed was nearly palpable.

Finally, Kiku released a long sigh. _"Very well, I will assist you. What have you reaned so far?"_ he asked, coming over to Alfred's side to review his work. Despite himself, the vampire couldn't help but grin as he booted the passcon up to go over all his progress with his ghostly best friend.

~o~

After that, things were still _way_ over Alfred's head, but at least Kiku seemed like he knew what he was doing as he attempted to translate everything in layman's terms for him. Once the vampire got used to the whole _ghost_ thing, it was actually kind of easy to fall back into the familiar patterns. Kiku would talk and Alfred would just try to keep up. Or he'd try to get Kiku to lighten up a bit because he was just being way too serious.

It was just so _nice_. He hadn't felt so light in ages. Almost like things were back to way they used to be. More than that, Alfred actually had an ally. Somebody who could help him out so that he wouldn't feel so helpless all the time. One who couldn't actually move things with his own hands, sure, but that was a minor inconvenience.

"You still think I need to hack into the Gherkin databases, then?" Alfred asked, stretching his spin out in his chair after a few hours of being hunched over keyboard.

Kiku nodded sagely, sipping a cup of ghost tea he'd hocus-pocused out of nowhere. _"We should look more into the origins of how an Antinatural came to be. My scientific tests on Arthur-san's nature were not very fruitful,"_ he said almost apologetically. _"Perhaps one day scientific methods will find out how to quantify what he is, but from what you tell me Arthur-san may not have much time left."_

"Much time?" Alfred echoed, though he had a sense of what Kiku was talking about. "You think he's getting worse."

" _I watched him get worse,"_ Kiku replied softly, his haunting lantern-like eyes looking inwards into the past. _"At first, I berieved it was grief that you were gone. But it was more than that. He rost his way. He rost all perspective. ...He may be getting better with you here,"_ the ghost added, layering another heavy slab of responsibility on the vampire.

"Ergh, don't _tell_ me that," Alfred groaned, falling into a heap over his keyboard. "I get that from Arthur enough already. It's not like I'm a good person or anything. I've done absolutely horrible things and I'm still trying to make up for all of that."

" _...I think that is exactry the type of person that Arthur-san needs,"_ Kiku said after a long moment.

However, the vampire could only give an indifferent shrug. "Look, whatever. I'll try to convince him to stop being so _evil,_ but I still think our best bet is putting his mind back to normal. All the human things- dreams, creativity, etcetera."

The ghost let out a small sigh, as if Alfred was missing something rather obvious. He tended to do that a lot. _"Very well. Then we must start with the Watcher archives. Were you able to get crose to any of the Watchers while you were there that might help?"_

The image of the spray of blood and brains suddenly came to mind. "Ah, no," Alfred replied with a cringe. "I'm pretty sure that Arthur burned all those bridges." More like took some napalm to them and then followed it up with some C-4. Though... come to think of it, perhaps he should be looking into the surviving members of the group to see if any of them might be sympathetic to his cause. If Arthur hadn't managed to cow them into submission. He should check for private chatter to see if any of them were dumb enough to voice their concerns over the web.

Making a mental note for later, the vampire continued, "I might be able to check Arthur's unit. I mean, I'm going to be living with him after all. Plus he said he oversaw all the supernatural stuff personally." Besides who was the most likely to hoard all the information about his Antinatural state? Hacking into Arthur's computer might just give them everything that they need.

Come to think of it...

"Kiku, did you ever tell Arthur about what you were working on?" the vampire asked, glancing over at the ghost.

" _Well, Alfred-san, I could answer that... However, if I am a manifestation of your mental image of Honda Kiku and not actually his spirit, then there is no way to tell if what I tell you is correct,"_ the ghost replied, taking another calm sip of his tea.

Alfred stared. That had to be complete bunk. After all, Kiku was able to get through all the research himself... wasn't he? Or was that just him somehow projecting a very Kiku-like conversation on what Alfred already knew? Growling, the vampire shook his head. If he thought about this anymore, his head would start spinning. "Look, just throw me a bone here, okay? What's your best guess?"

Kiku paused again, silently contemplating his answer. _"I berieve that he did know,"_ the ghost answered in that roundabout way of his. _"He certainly did not ask any questions. I was given quite a bit of freedom in my work... Much as you are being given now,"_ he added, turning those empty eyes in Alfred's direction.

The implication in those words sent a faint chill down Alfred's spine. "You think he knows what I'm doing?" he asked quietly.

" _It's possible,"_ Kiku allowed.

"But-!" the vampire objected, jumping to his feet. "You can't know for sure! I mean, all this stuff I'm working on- It could kill him!"

His look towards the ghost turned desperate, hoping that the ghost wasn't about to say what had been but a dark, filthy inkling at the back of his mind for nearly five decades.

" _Alfred-san,"_ Kiku said after a time, _"I berieve you know as well as I do that Arthur-san wishes to die."_

If Alfred had a heart, it would have stopped. He knew. He knew it. Yet just hearing it said aloud made him want to _scream._ His unneeded breath growing a little more rapid, he turned back to the computer as urgency pumped through him like blood. "I'm not going to let that happen," he said coldly, all his previous good humor at having Kiku around again evaporated, keys clicking too loudly as he coded his decryption algorithm.

" _He was meant to die one hundred years ago,"_ the spectre said, not unkindly.

"I don't care!" Alfred snapped, abruptly stopping to glare pure violence at his friend. "He wasn't supposed to die then and I'm not going to be the reason he dies now!" Yet another, dark and guilty part of him reminded him softly that Arthur being like this was _his_ fault. He was responsible for _all_ of this.

For a while, Kiku was silent. Alfred could tell that he was working up what to say and whatever it was, wasn't actually what he meant.

" _I wonder,"_ Kiku said finally, _"if Arthur's predecessor became a doctor to remember the way the naturar world worked."_

The vampire blinked at him. Whatever the ghost meant, it went way over his head this time. So he shook his head and muttered, "Goddammit, Kiku," under his breath as he went back to coding. He wasn't going to think about that. He had a couple days free and he was going to make the most of it before Arthur came back and demanded all of his free time.

By the end of this week, he was _going_ to have everything he needed. Even if it-

His wrist console suddenly pinged, making him jump.

" _What was that?"_ Kiku asked, noticing his startlement.

"Nothing!" Alfred yelped, slapping a hand over his wrist. He peeked under his hand and saw that it was exactly what he suspected. The red-headed league had decided to finally take a look at his intel. Somewhere with a network. These guys really didn't know the first thing about cyber security, did they? That was just fine with him. Maybe if they added his thumb drive to their mainframe, he could feed them more, all the while borrowing a few things from them right under their noses...

" _...Alfred-san?"_ the ghost said, coming up behind him.

"Yeah?" the vampire asked innocently. He flicked the notification away. There was enough time to deal with that bunch later. Now, however, Kiku was giving him a strange, empty-eyed look that reeked of suspicion.

Deciding it was best to change the subject, Alfred said, "You know, once we get all this information together, we're going to have to figure out how to actually make the nanites to turn Arthur back to normal. And last time I checked you weren't a nanotech genius." Or you know, could _lift_ things.

Kiku delicately raised an eyebrow. _"And do you know someone who is?"_

Alfred grinned wide, "Yeah, actually. I do." Then the smile dropped. "Don't know how much we can trust him though. He's kind of an arrogant ass, but he seems like a good guy. He's Luddie's brother."

" _Rudwig had a brother?"_ Kiku inquired in surprise.

"Yeah, completely zombed-out one, actually," Alfred hummed, tapping his fingers along the desk as he considered. His lips quirked into a fanged grin, "I should make friends."


	8. Chapter 8

Alfred waited until mid-day to make his way over to the R&D department, having wasted the morning unsuccessfully trying to pen a letter to one of the members of the supernatural cabal back in London. (He couldn't really get past the whole, 'hey sorry my boyfriend blew your colleague's brains out. Could I get all of your research? I promise I won't do anything bad with it.) He resolved himself to just hack into Arthur's personal console when he had the chance. Leaving him to deal with the other part of his plan, recruiting a certain zombie.

The sun shone high and hard along the seventy story tinted glass wall, casting sharp shadows from the solar panels along the mostly empty marble hall. All the activity was along the other wall in the white honeycomb offices, where the black and red uniforms went about their business of ruling the world.

Those he did bump into were merely the guards, who only seemed vaguely interested as his moniker 'Agent Estonia' popped up on their visors. Apparently people were used to him now. _Yay_...

Coming up to the automatic glass doors of the R&D department, he was greeted by the familiar white lab coats that seemed to blend right into the sterile walls like camouflage. Honestly, it was the only reason why Dr. Arlovskaya was able to get the jump on him.

"Mr. Vampire, interesting to see you wander into my lab while the Commander is away," a chilling voice hummed behind him. A jolt of _DANGER_ flew down Alfred's spine as he whipped around to face the blond mad scientist. She smirked at him, her blue eyes dissecting him where he stood.

Alfred let out a laugh that was too high pitched for his liking. "Wh-what, me? I work here, y'know. I don't need to have Ar- the Commander hovering over me all the time." His eyes slid over to her fingers, which were empty. Didn't mean there wasn't some kind of sharp needle in her pocket though. "A-actually, I was just heading over to see Gil. He's expecting me."

He wasn't, but Alfred wasn't above lying to save his own hide.

Dr. Arlovskaya clucked her tongue disapprovingly. Alfred wasn't really sure why, but he didn't really feel like asking. "Fine. Go then," she said, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. Relieved, Alfred spun on his heel to do just that, when the scientist called after him, "Just remember who runs this department, Mr. Vampire. I know _everything_ that you do."

That sounded like a warning. Or a threat. Alfred whirled around to face her, but the department head was already walking away, her long blond hair fluttering like a curtain behind her.

 _Well, that's not ominous at all,_ the vampire thought, thoroughly disturbed. What did she even mean by that? That she knew everything within the walls of R &D or that she knew about the _other_ stuff too? No, she couldn't. ...Could she?

Shit, he was going to have to be careful. It was bad enough dealing with Arthur on his back, but throwing Natalya on top of that was not making his job any easier.

With much less enthusiasm than before, Alfred headed down the familiar path towards the nano-lab, where he found Gilbert and his lab tech (Henchman) plugging away on some computer models. "Hey guys, whatcha up to?" he called with a wave as he walked into the lab.

The henchman whirled around at the sound of his voice, giving the vampire a slightly amorous look. "Alfred, good morning," the man beamed at him, standing up to greet him. "Would you like anything? Coffee? Donuts?"

Both Alfred and Gilbert stared at the lab tech like he'd grown a second head. Then Alfred internally groaned. Crud, he completely forgot about this side-effect of prolonged entrancement. "N-no, I'm okay. I'm a vampire. I don't do donuts," the vampire said with a laugh. Then thought about it. "Actually, tea would be nice. Just hold the teabag."

"You got it," his new fanboy replied, his cheery tone a little disconcerting coming out of a middling aged, sour-faced human. At once he was off, braving the perils of the Dr. Arlovskaya stalked halls.

"... _Vhat_ did you do to my henchman?" Gilbert asked incredulously.

"What, you jealous?" Alfred asked with a sly grin. He should probably ask the guy's name, since he felt a little bad for imposing a man-crush onto him... But to be honest, he was probably just going to forget it later, so why bother? "Anyway, you busy? How's that ozone thing coming along?"

"Oh zat? Ve finished last veek," the zombie replied, seeming to dismiss his assistant's unusual behaviour. "Ve're vorking on a pet project for ze Fuhrer now," he said with a grin so wicked that it admittedly made Alfred a little worried. "One I am not supposed to tell you about."

Scratch that. He was very worried.

"Didn't you know about ze ozone project?" Gil asked, turning back to his computer model. Apparently, he had no qualms about keeping the thing running on the pet project right in front of him. Granted Alfred couldn't understand _any_ of it. "Zat's vhy he's off to Vashington, or vherever."

 _Like he tells me where he goes,_ Alfred thought grudgingly. "And _why_ is he off to Washington?"

"Just because ve invented ozone nanites, doesn't mean the vorld governments vill just let us spawn clouds of nanites over zeir countries. Ve could block out ze sun indefinitely... if ze Fuhrer vas so inclined..." Gil said lightly, as if he hadn't just suggested that they could hold the whole world hostage on a whim.

If Alfred had any blood to spare, it would have drained from his whole body. Holy shit. Arthur wouldn't _do_ that, would he? Who was he kidding. Yes, he would. Shit, this was really bad. (And it was _his_ fault. _Again._ ) _Fuck, what was he going to do?!_

Gilbert snapped a couple fingers in front of his face, breaking him from his spiraling panic. "Hey, you. You look like someone just killed your dog."

"Ah-haha," the vampire replied, his chuckle weak and pathetic. "No, just thinking about what would happen if someone hacked the nanites, is all. But I'm _sure_ you got that covered." The look on Gil's face read 'damn-right-I-do.' Only now Alfred was having second-thoughts, _lots of second-thoughts,_ about actually asking for Gilbert's help. Since the dude literally built a doomsday device.

 _Make friends,_ he reminded himself, before pulling on a charming smile. "Well, since you're less busy now, I guess, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after work. You like video games? I have loads."

"Can I come?" a voice interjected behind them. Henchman had returned, bearing a mug of hot water. He looked on the pair of them so hopefully, that the guilt drilled into Alfred even worse.

"Uhm... I was actually kinda hoping it would be a non-human bonding thing...?" Alfred replied awkwardly, ignoring the way that Gil's nose scrunched in distaste. "You understand, don't you?" Then Henchman visibly wilted. Like he was about to tear up at any second. Alfred quickly gave in. "But hey, maybe you and me can do something later. Okay?"

"Thanks, Alfred. That would be great," Henchman beamed, handing the mug over. "Anything else I can get you?"

 _Go Away._ "Nope, thanks," the vampire replied, raising the mug. Then he turned back to Gilbert with a pained expression.

The zombie must have felt bad for him, because he sighed and said, "Vell, I suppose I cannot blame you for vanting to hang out vit ze awesome me. But ve are not playing video games. Ve vill go out like men and hit ze town," he said with such intensity and machismo, that Alfred knew he wasn't going to budge from his plan.

"What town?" he asked skeptically. They were hundreds of miles in the middle of _nowhere._

"It's an expression. Ve vill just go to vhere all ze bars are," Gil said impatiently. "So? You in?"

Bars? Oh crap. Where there were bars, there were people. There were people, lots of people, drinking alcohol. That was the worst kind of situation to put himself in. However, as he looked up to the zombie, Gil's red eyes pressed into him unrelentingly. This was his _best_ chance to get Gil into his pocket before Arthur came back.

Pretty sure he was going to regret this later, Alfred nodded and took Gil's outstretched hand. "I'm in."

~o~

Which was how Alfred found himself in the residential area of Daedalus later on that night, absolutely regretting his decision. This part of campus was much more relaxed than the rest of the sterile complex, looking almost like a lush conservatory with greenery and people protected from the harsh sun by a biodome, much like the one that housed the agriculture. It was almost resort-like in fact, as people strode along the stone pathways in uniform or in swimsuits and boardshorts, flitting through the amenities such as the pool, the track and field, the rec center, the commissary and other eateries.

The area was completely unfamiliar to him, since Arthur had made sure he didn't have to stay around masses of humans if he didn't want to. Didn't even include it on the original tour he gave Alfred so many months ago. Alfred was grateful, as the swarm of flesh, the orchestra of beating hearts, was threatening to overwhelm him. However, Gilbert was insistent, leading Alfred through the plaza that lead off to the different residential towers, bypassing the commissary towards the restaurants and bars.

It didn't help that Alfred was stuck in his custom body armor, only adding to his discomfort. He (apparently) didn't look decent enough in his admittedly shabby jeans and t-shirts, so he had to go with the nicest thing he owned. He did look pretty slick, if the looks he were getting were anything to go by. Either that or he was giving off his hunter pheromones big time.

Gil settled on a tiki-bar near one of the crescent pools, which was already filling up with people in various states of dress getting off of work. (Alfred doubted Arthur had _any_ say in the decor.) The nano-scientist yanked Alfred over to the bar in front of the TV, squeezing in between a few other guys still in uniform. "Hey, get me a beer! And a Bloody Mary for zis one!" he said, pointing at the vampire.

"I can't drink-" Alfred squawked, before the zombie slapped him hard on the back.

"Oh _lighten up_ ," Gil said with a vicious grin. "Ze Fuhrer isn't here. You can let loose a little. Ve get drinks to stay here. Vhy, you zink I have brain cells to vaste on alcohol? I'm undead, remember?"

Alfred didn't bother pointing out the zombie _ate_ brains for breakfast. He prickled at being touched, everything just feeling too hot and too sensitive. He could _feel_ all the fountains of blood, red, hot, and delicious, pumping around him. The fleshy heat and lowered inhibitions reviving his Want. He closed his eyes, which had already sharpened. "So, if neither of us can drink, what exactly are we doing at a tiki-bar?" he snapped.

"Careful. Your fangs are showing," Gil warned with a crooked smirk. He nodded over to the pool, where the people were engaging in some water games. "Ve came here to pick up chicks, of course," he replied, his words dripping with salacious intent as he eyed some of the women lounging in bikinis. At the look of horror on the vampire's face, Gil said, "Vhat, you don't have any fun vhile ze Fuhrer's away?"

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" Alfred hissed in a hushed shrill. "No! No, I don't! You have no idea how ridiculously possessive he is! Besides which, I've never picked up a 'chick' in my life except for food!" The bartender picked exactly the wrong time to put the Bloody Mary in front of him, causing Alfred to snap. "Get that stupid thing away from me! Just get me a club soda!" The bartender jumped to his command, nearly dropping the offending drink in his haste to get Alfred a new order.

"Mein Gott, you are such a downer," Gil said, though he looked more amused by his companion's antics than anything else. "Vhat has your panties all in a bunch?"

"I don't like people," Alfred replied, staring at the bar counter in front of him. His head was beginning to pound. "Not lots of them. It's... a lot to handle."

The zombie mulled over this, taking a not-sip of his beer. He seemed to come to a decision as he said, "Tell you vhat. I let you off ze hook if you can use your... _skills_ to be my vingman."

"Your _what?_ "

"Pick up chicks for ze awesome me!" Gil declared. "Somezing tells me you vould do vell at it," he said, nodding off towards the pool, where Alfred caught more than one interested gaze in his direction. "Heh, maybe ze fangs do help. Some women like bad men."

 _Or they've caught whiff of my hunter pheromones,_ he thought darkly. Thankfully, this was not an enclosed space, or else this would be far worse. "How many?" he asked, his voice rippling in a predatory growl.

Gil blinked, before his mouth broke into a wicked smile. "Four vould fit in my bed."

Nodding, Alfred downed the icy soda in one gulp, the shock of cold curbing his baser instincts just a little. Enough to keep his head. The vampire slid off his seat, well aware that the other patrons of the bar were staring at him as he left. He was a sight, donned in black and red, eyes and fangs sharp set in a face of ivory. He radiated with danger, primed to hunt, before that was smothered by the fog of compliance and arousal. He found his prey. Four women settled atop adirondack chairs, their conversation shutting down as he approached. His sharp eyes looked them over, slamming them into entrancement. "Come with me," he purred, beckoning them with a wave of his hand. And really, how could they not? He could tell them to slit their throats and they would do it, creating crimson necklaces of blood.

 _itwouldbesoeasy...drinksweethotred-_

Walking back to the bar, Alfred crushed down the thoughts, the Want, shuddering as he tried to remember one of the many times Ivan had painfully slammed his head into the ground during his rehab. God, it was so long ago. _I won't be a monster again. I won't._

Before he realized it, he was back at Gil's side. The zombie looked utterly unaffected by his powers, whistling as he saw the dazedly, giggling women. " _Damn,_ you are good."

"You _will_ wait for this to wear off," Alfred hissed, his blue eyes narrowing. "Should take about an hour after I go. So help me, if I hear that you did something they didn't consent-"

"Ja, ja, I got it," the zombie replied with an annoyed tsk. "So uptight! No vonder you and ze Fuhrer fit so vell togezer." At Alfred's positively murderous look, he added, "Vhat, do you doubt zat ze awesome me can't keep zeir attention vitout your help?"

Alfred was thinking that Gilbert was less awesome by the second. "You owe me," he warned, jabbing a finger into the zombie's chest. "You got it? No questions asked."

"You make it sound like a deal vit ze devil," Gil tutted, now starting to look worried. After a moment he relented, "Fine, fine. So long as you don't ask me about ze Fuhrer's project, ja?"

"Fine," Alfred answered, his tone short. He turned on his heel, his now out of control pheromones guaranteeing everyone in arm's reach would leave him be (and reward them all with nasty hangovers in the morning). He didn't stop feeling like he was about to crawl out of his own skin until he was safely tucked away in his solitary quarters, behind its three separate hydro-locking gates. (It never occurred to him until then, that he would be grateful for them - to keep _him_ away from others.)

Alfred peeled out of his body armor as soon as he could, taking a shower to wash what he could of his pheromones off of himself. He didn't feel like himself until he got into his favorite PJs and downed no less than three bags of blood, doing what he could to sate the Want. It hungered in the back of his mind, pacing like a caged tiger. Curling up onto the sofa in front of the TV, he picked up a season of Friends to throw on to distract him.

" _Bad night?"_ a voice called over to him, nearly making Alfred jump out of his skin.

Alfred looked up to see Kiku floating into the room. "Jesus, can't you knock?"

" _As I cannot touch anything, no_ ," the ghost replied simply, floating over to glance at the screen. " _You arways watch Friends when you're upset._ "

"Yeah, well," Alfred muttered, making an uncomfortable shrug. "Lots of people and alcohol. Bad combo for me. And Gil was... not like I thought he would be." He scooted over on the couch, giving Kiku room to join him. "Do zombies actually have libidos or is he just an ass?"

" _I have never asked one, so I'm not sure. It seems rike a very private question,"_ Kiku replied in that easy going manner that always calmed Alfred's nerves. The vampire let out a bark of laughter, focusing back on the tv.

"...I think I did something bad again," Alfred said softly after a time. "I accidentally gave Arthur a doomsday weapon."

Kiku didn't react, save for raising an eyebrow. " _How so?"_

"The nanites that are supposed to repair the ozone layer and save the planet? They can block out the sun apparently. So there's _that_ good news," he growled.

Kiku considered this, before he spoke in a slow and deliberate tone, " _New technorogy arways comes with dangers. Not unrike nucrear power, when it was first discovered."_ Alfred glanced over at the ghost, whose eyes were more distant than usual, as if he were looking into ancestral memories. After a moment, he said, " _You had good intentions, Alfred-san. The idea is_ still _good. It can do much to heal the world."_ He turned to glance over to the vampire, whose insides churned with conflict. _"Do you think Arthur-san would use it as a weapon?"_

"If he thought he had to, maybe," Alfred murmured. "I don't know. He's trying to save the world. Plunging the earth into eternal darkness seems like the complete opposite of that. But he's always managed to surprise me for the worse."

" _Then do not ret him,"_ Kiku said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Yeah, okay, I'll get right on that," Alfred replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. What could he do? He wasn't some super genius. The best thing he could do was hack into-

 _...Oh!_

Kiku smiled as he watched the revelation light up Alfred's face. " _You have an idea?_ "

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," the vampire replied with a fanged grin. He was suddenly bursting with energy, bouncing up off the couch to grab his wrist-consol. Then he stopped, right before he ran one of his exploits to grab a secure connection. "Kiku, you swear you're not going to tell anyone about this?" he asked slowly.

" _Who would I tell?"_ the ghost asked.

...Fair enough. Alfred jacked one of the rare non-Watcher satellites out there, before he opened up the channel the Red-Headed League made just for him.


	9. Chapter 9

"Alfred? Are you here?"

Impatience swelled in the words. Fresh off of landing in Texas in the late afternoon, Arthur didn't even head back to his rooms before seeking out his former lover. Every part of Arthur buzzed in anticipation, his heart squeezing so tightly he could scarcely breathe. He'd been nearly useless on his trip to Washington, to the point that his aide had to shake him out of daydream between meetings. That he _could_ still daydream was a pleasant realization in itself, but the subject of them couldn't help but tug subconscious smiles out of him.

Now all that remained was to make those daydreams a reality.

The immortal stepped lightly into the vampire's lair, so to speak, trying to catch sight of him. However, his private rooms were vacated, sending a fleeting moment of panic in him before he realized that Alfred likely just packed. Hurrying to the lab, Arthur finally spotted a familiar flyaway blond hair and pale limbs sitting at his usual console. One of those smiles pulled at his lips again as he went to go greet him. "Alfred," he called, startling the vampire out of his reverie. The chair spun around and for a moment, all Alfred did was stare at him, eyes wide and wary as if Arthur had just risen from the dead.

It was a terribly awkward pause. Long enough for Arthur to prompt, "Alfre-" Suddenly, Arthur found his arms full of corpse. (It was less revolting than it sounded.)

Alfred squeezed him tight with that bone breaking strength, drawing Arthur into an unexpected hug. It surprised Arthur even now just how much strength the vampire had in those slender limbs of his. The hold was tight, almost painful, but not unwelcome. What concerned Arthur was the desperation behind it.

"Alfred?" he questioned softly, "Love, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Alfred replied petulantly. "I just wanna hold you. What's wrong with that?"

 _That_ was a lie if Arthur ever heard one. Still, he didn't exactly want to draw Alfred out into an argument by challenging him. So instead, he just reaped the benefits. He could always ask about it later. "Very well," he replied, sliding his arms around Alfred's back. "...I don't suppose you could stop squeezing me so hard."

"You'll live," the vampire replied. There was an odd inflection in his voice that Arthur couldn't make heads or tails of.

"Be still, my heart," Arthur retorted dryly, although he was charmed by how sweet Alfred was acting. Suspiciously sweet, to be honest. It no doubt had to do with whatever was troubling him. "Are you ready to move upstairs, then? You have all your things together?"

"Mm, yeah," Alfred nodded, reluctantly pulling away to pick up his backpack. The ratty thing had obviously been in use for the past fifty years, littered with duct tape to keep it from falling to pieces. His clothes didn't look all that much better, but Arthur assumed that he must have replaced them every ten years or so. He couldn't wait until Alfred stopped behaving like a nomad and set roots again. Perhaps having- _wanting-_ more than the bare essentials would resolve that.

That was when he noticed the urn sitting atop one of the shelves in the lab. "...you're not bringing Kiku's ashes with you?" he asked with the vague hope that Alfred hadn't simply forgotten to put the urn in his bag. He was delighted when the vampire answered:

"No, he's staying down here."

Well, this was... progress. It worried him that Alfred still referred to Kiku as though he were living, but at least they didn't have to sleep in the same room as their dead friend's ashes.

"This place is only open to you and me, right?" Alfred asked, casting a worried glance over the lab.

"Of course," Arthur replied, mildly offended. It was as if Alfred didn't think he believed in discretion. He lived and breathed discretion. "You made it _very_ clear that you don't want anyone to poke around in your business."

At this, the vampire visibly relaxed, giving him a wan smile. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure nothing happened to Kiku."

 _What more could possibly be done to him,_ Arthur didn't ask. Instead, he merely waved the sweet boy closer. "He will be _fine,_ " he assured Alfred. "Everything is under lock and key. No one may even think about accessing this suite without my express permission. Moreover, you'll be able to come down and see him tomorrow if you're so worried. Now, shall we go?"

A very human sort of impatience was working him over, making him wish he could just tug Alfred along back up to _their_ rooms. It was as refreshing as it was vexing. The vampire always, in the most profound and subtle ways, made him feel alive.

Except said vampire was clearly dragging his feet.

In what seemed like an eternity, they made their way out of Alfred's isolated wing towards a sublevel of the Administrative Offices. Things were quiet in Daedalus, everyone already hard at work saving the world from itself. Arthur was happy to have Alfred just to himself for the day. Even when he was being a petulant brat.

"Okay, this is a bit paranoid. Even for you," Alfred remarked sourly as he punched in the keycode for the Admin elevators much like the one in the Gherkin.

 _Cheeky little..._

"Excuse me for not wanting to advertise my private quarters to the entire campus," Arthur replied tartly. He and Alfred both tensed both a half-second, before recalling that the Collar was off. Relief flooded the Brit when he watched Alfred's tension lull.

"Not excused," Alfred replied, making Arthur smile. This really was better. They had a chance now.

The elevator opened up to a small closet of a hallway. A mere couple of feet to the heavily reinforced steel door that separated the general public from Arthur's peace of mind. One paneled with blue wood and had a biometric scanner hidden by a small police call box sign.

Alfred took one look at it and groaned into his palm. "Oh my God, Arthur. You're such a _dork_."

"It's bigger on the inside," Arthur replied, unable to help a grin and ignoring Alfred's muttered, _'I can't believe that show's still running'_. He flipped up the call box sign to reveal the scanner. "Here, you already have access. Go ahead." Still looking quite exasperated, Alfred scanned his hand, his eyes and spoke his password: ' _McRibs_.' The door opened with an innocuous click.

Alfred stepped through, but stopped short of letting Arthur close the door behind him. He stared at their surroundings, taking it all in. "Holy- Arthur did you just take the entire floor all for yourself?"

Indeed Arthur had, expanding the rooms out as the decades passed. Although it wasn't the top floor, it was still larger than the flat he had in London. The open living room and dining room sprawled out along the empty space, to tinted wall to ceiling windows broken only by the exterior honeycomb structure that mirrored the sister tower across the inner courtyard. The warm wood interior (synthesized of course) was dotted with relics and antiques that he had picked up over the past hundred years, making the place both austere and cozy. Like an English country mansion. Not that this was _that_ big of course.

"...Where is everything then?" Alfred asked slowly, still looking very much like a rabbit about to skitter. (Bloodthirsty demon of the night? Not his vampire, clearly.)

"I'll give you the tour," Arthur replied with a smile. "Go ahead and put your things down on the sofa." He showed Alfred around their private quarters, from the mostly unused kitchen, to the wine cellar, and to the library. The media room he was especially proud of, since it was to be Alfred's specifically. Outfitted with the highest end television money could buy, it housed all of Alfred's video game consoles, his entire television and movie collection and all the outdated players to view them. However, the vampire only took one look at his decrepit PC in the corner and gave a heavy sigh that crushed Arthur's expectations.

"You have a nicer unit in your office," Arthur said, not a little disappointed at the underwhelming reaction.

"Office?" Alfred echoed. "Why'd you get me an office? I already have a lab."

"It's not unthinkable that you wouldn't want to make the long trek down there on certain days," Arthur replied, feeling thoroughly underappreciated. He had thought the vampire would be impressed, not as if he were being consigned to a prison cell.

From his tone, Alfred at least had the grace to look contrite. "Okay, _sorry,_ " he said, reaching out a cool hand to squeeze Arthur's. "Show me the rest?"

Partially mollified, Arthur nodded, tugging Alfred past their individual studies to the bedroom. It was the crown jewel of the tour and where he fully expected to miss his morning meetings for the next month or two, in favor of piddling away the hours with his newly reclaimed lover. And if Alfred expressed any kind of disappointment this time, he was going to be extremely _vexed._

Alfred didn't. In fact, he looked appropriately awed as he stepped into the suite, greeted by the rather normal furnishings of a couple dressers, tv and a bed dressed in soft blue cotton sheets. He went over to the bed, putting a hand on the wooden foot board. "Arthur... this looks like..." he started, before his thumb traced over a familiar notch in the wood.

"It is," Arthur smiled, watching Alfred closely. "Our things from the brownstone. I told you I had them in storage while we were settling down here." The vampire looked like he was visibly struggling to speak. So he decided to make the boy struggle just a bit more. Taking his hand, he pulled Alfred towards one of the walk in closets. "All your things are here too. I kept it all in a climate controlled room and had them aired out before you came. It should all still fit, naturally."

The vampire stepped in, looking around all his things comically wide eyes. Then his gaze lit on one article in particular and he let out a gasp. Immediately, he pulled it off its hanger and slid the old bomber jacket across his shoulders. As ever, it was a bit too big on his gaunt frame, but that didn't stop him from curling up into it. "How do I look?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Adorable," Arthur responded with a tender smile, coming over to press a chaste kiss to the vampire's cool brow.

The boy's grin turned rueful, though he didn't pull away. Instead, he shoved a hand into his pocket and fished out the gold pentagram shield Arthur had given to him in London. He pinned it to the soft ruff of the collar, which could not have delighted Arthur more. It was good that Alfred was taking his own safety seriously. "Over the heart is better," he said softly, taking the pentagram. "Here, we can pin it to the zipper seam if you're worried about the leather."

"Does this mean I'm sheriff now?" Alfred asked as he examined the shield.

"You can be my deputy," Arthur replied with a laugh. Then he took a critical look at Alfred's apparel. "Do you want to change into your new, or should I say, old clothes? What you're wearing is a little bit ratty."

"Oh _fine._ Snob," Alfred said with a put upon sigh. Shoving Arthur out of the closet with a strength belied by his slender limbs, he called out, "Wait there for a second!"

Arthur did not have to wait long. When the door opened next, the boy was stark naked save for the bomber jacket. He was all lean alabaster limbs, toned flawless chest. He stood confident and guileless on display like an ancient Italian marble masterpiece, completely at home among the Watcher's antiquities. Hands gripping either side of the closet door, Alfred gave Arthur a fanged smirk. "Better?"

Whatever disappointments Arthur had about this reunion evaporated along with all the moisture in his mouth. "Ah- _ahem-_ " he coughed into his fist, trying to will away the blush. "No complaints."

"Good," was all that Alfred replied, before he pushed Arthur up against the wall. The force of it just about knocked the wind of him, but he barely had the chance to breath before Alfred was on his lips, with as much ferocity as if he were out for blood.

"Al-Alfred, _wait_ ," the watcher cried, thrown by how sudden this was. He cupped Alfred's face, unsure of what to make of the fierceness in his expression. "I- Are you sure about this?" He swallowed hard, his body responding at the sight of such temptation. "I cannot go back if you're not sure about this." Even now, the thought of this being taken away made his very soul want to scream.

Doubt flickered in the vampire's expression, before the steel returned. "Yeah," he whispered, a powerful ache and a need filling up his blue eyes. Along with untold affection. A faint smile touched the edge of his lips. "I'm sure, Arthur. I'm ready."

Arthur needed no other encouragement, his hands desperately pulling the vampire into him.

~o~

"So, better than those boytoys you brought to bed?"

The tired question came late in the evening, when the sun had already set and the moon from across the glass courtyard sent hexagonal shadows into their bedroom. Both of them had exhausted themselves after fulfilling a need that had plagued them both uninterrupted for almost fifty years. They curled up against each other under fresh sheets, both tired but unwilling to head first into sleep.

Arthur could not help but smile at the question. One might say that jealousy was unflattering in a person. However, in this case it was _incredibly_ flattering. (Although he rather hoped that wasn't the only reason why Alfred fell into bed with him.) Arthur pulled up from his trail of kisses to murmur in the boy's ear, "As if they could ever compare. It would be akin to comparing the sad ephemeral flicker of a candle to the rays of the sun."

"Y'know, that takes on a whole new meaning since you think that the sun is going to burn everyone to a crisp," Alfred replied wryly.

Arthur let out a chuckle. "What can I say? You'll be the death of me."

At this, the vampire visibly and physically tensed. "Don't say that," he whispered, all the post-coital languidness gone in but a breath. It confused Arthur to no end.

"What? It was but a joke. Besides, I cannot die. You know this," Arthur scoffed, rubbing a hand over Alfred's chest as he tried to will him back into a relaxed state. However, the boy was not so easily satisfied. He turned suddenly, wrapping Arthur up against him in the same death-vice as before. _Now_ was a good time to ask what was wrong. "Do you know something I don't?" Arthur demanded, trying to wrest Alfred's arm from his neck.

"Artie, do you want to die?"

The words came out as but a whisper, but they slammed into Arthur like stone. "What? What's this all of a sudden? Why are you asking?" he pressed, cupping Alfred's face to better see his eyes. The boy was terrible at hiding his emotions and in those blue depths, he only saw hurt and dread.

 _Was this why...?_

"I'd long given up on the idea," Arthur spoke honestly. He gently traced his knuckles along Alfred's chin, hoping to ease his dear boy's anxiety. "Besides, why would I want to when I can spend my nights and days with you?"

The pain in Alfred's eyes only grew. "I don't like it when you say things like that," he said with a cutting bluntness. "It makes you crazy when you think you're going to lose me."

Arthur's grip tightened, before he forced himself to relax with sheer will. "Yes," he admitted softly. "Because I love you."

"Because you're scared," Alfred countered. There was no accusation in the tone, merely fatigue. "You don't want to be alone for the rest of your life." He let out a mirthless laugh, "I mean, do you even love me anymore? Did you lose that part of your humanity too? Do you just think you're supposed to and you're going through the motions?"

"I've had just about enough of this," Arthur snapped. He lunged forward, pulling Alfred up into a forceful kiss. The vampire froze up into it, before he melted like butter on a hot pan. Even his flesh seemed warmer, stealing away heat from Arthur's own. His hands cupped Alfred's blissed face, panting softly as he came up for air. "Alfred Jones, I love you with every fibre of my being. I have loved you since the day I first saw you over a century ago. I have even loved you since you were a faceless void and gave me words of comfort, when I was just a young boy. I will admit, I am terrified of a world without you in it. But you are the light of my life and I am but half a person without you."

He took a breath. "Now _will_ you tell me what is going on?"

There was no longer a Collar to compel Alfred to speak, so he remained stubbornly silent. Yet there was that compulsion all the same, building up as Alfred looked down and away in confliction. Arthur was so close. It wouldn't take much more to make him talk. If he could just press the vampire just a little more...

" _Alfred-_ " Arthur started more forcefully, when a sharp ringing sounded through the room. Just like that, Alfred tensed and grew guarded once more. The moment was lost, much to Arthur's extreme displeasure. Snatching up the bedroom phone, the immortal snapped, " _What?!_ I _told_ you not to disturb me tonight."

 _*Sir, I'm sorry, but a third of the Pacific's aquafarms have gone offline,*_ the voice of his VP of Sustainability told him. He was a nervous man, unused to giving him bad news. _*We think that there might have been some kind of attack.*_

The blood drained from Arthur's face, his personal fury diminishing as a dark horror froze him. Behind him, Alfred bored an anxious frown into his back. "...Art. That's not a good look on your face," he said as he pulled himself to sit up in bed.

"I'll be right there," Arthur spoke woodenly into the phone, before he hung up. Turning back to the vampire, he said, "A tenth of the world's food supply has been compromised." The boy's eyes flew wide open, as though he had just been slapped across the face. "I'm sorry, I need to leave," Arthur said, sliding out of bed to get some clothes on. "Will you be alright on your own?"

"Arthur, I've taken care of myself for-" Alfred started petulantly.

"Hundreds of years. Yes, I know," the Watcher sighed. However, he smiled as he pressed a kiss to the vampire's cheek. "Don't go anywhere, alright?"

At that, Alfred gave him a definite _Look,_ before replying, "You better be glad the Collar's off, you know. Or else you would've lost me right then." A thrill of terror raced down Arthur's spine at his words, but he didn't have the time to react before Alfred returned the chaste kiss. "Go, Arthur. Save the world and all that."

"R-right," Arthur replied, though relief still had yet to work on his sudden bout of fear. Nonetheless, he strode towards the bedroom door, but stopped to look behind him. The sight of the slender ivory teen, beautiful and naked in their long shared bed, was nothing short of his most aching fantasy now fulfilled. "I missed you," he spoke, words soft and sincere.

Alfred's expression, guarded at first (and it was unbearable to think that _he_ did that to him), slowly softened and he gave one of those heartstopping smiles. "Missed you too, Artie."

Despite what was happening, Arthur felt as though he could soar. He arrived in his office wearing a broad smile, making all his officers visibly nervous. (They probably thought he was even more unhinged.) "Right then," he spoke as he sat at the head of the table, "tell me what's going on in the Pacific."

~o~

As soon as the Watcher was out the door, Alfred was on the move. Stopping only to tug on a pair of jeans, he sought out Arthur's office. It was a room next to his, stylized into an old-fashioned study with leather and wooden furnishings. His target, the sleek new console model that had as much processing power as a supercomputer. He was going to have to be ridiculously careful when he tried to hack into Arthur's personal console. At least the cyber attack he made on the farms by proxy of one of the sister hacktivist groups of the RHL (Red-Headed League) would buy him plenty of time to do what he needed to do.

Arthur's personal console was certainly a secure setup though, consisting just of a screen, an optic keyboard/mouse and a smooth silver tower tucked neatly away under the desk. No wireless networks attached to it. No visible ports, though it looked like it was attached to the floor. If he was going to get at it, he'd either have to figure out Arthur's password (tricky, since he might set something off if he got it wrong) or unbolt the tower from the floor to see what he could get at under there.

The hacker gave the beautiful thing a wistful look before he went off to find a wrench.

Once he got the thing undone, he hit the motherload. The vulnerable underbelly where the power and the ports lived. Recognizing the network cable, he grinned as he pulled out a tiny wire (a device of his own making) from his wrist-console and slid it into the network port along with the cable.

 _Don't mind if I piggyback on your network do you, Artie? No, of course not, Alfred, go right ahead._

 _Why, don't mind if I do._

~o~

It did not take long for Arthur's team to figure out what exactly happened to the farms and by whom. Though they did get a decidedly deserved tongue-lashing from GreenSea's president about the breach in the farms' security. Essential systems were back online by midnight and non-essentials would be recovered in a couple days. All without too much harm to the system.

Yet something nagged at Arthur, as his officers discussed when to meet to get a debrief on the situation. _Why_ the ocean farms? How was it in anyone's interest to take those out? All they did do was serve to act as a distraction.

"...Dickens," Arthur called out, catching the attention of his security officer. "Check the status of all of our more sensitive projects. I want to make sure that nothing is amiss."

"Yessir," Dickens replied with a snappish salute. One of his deputies nudged him gently on the arm, prompting an annoyed glance before Dickens addressed him once more. "Commander, I understand from my aide that your uh... _Agent Estonia_ is somewhat skilled at hacking?

At once Arthur stiffened. "He has a hundred years of experience," he spoke slowly. " _What_ of it?" If Dickens was about to imply something nefarious, Arthur knew how absurd the notion was. Alfred did no harm to them whatsoever when he could have spent the last fifty years doing so. And as much as he wanted to think he was the only reason Alfred returned, he wasn't an idiot. Kiku had everything to do with it. A last parting gift from their mutual friend.

Sensing that he was close to crossing a _very_ dangerous line, Dickens visibly swallowed. "N-no, nothing like that, Commander. It's just that we could use someone like that in Administration. I-in cyber security. If he's as good as you say, it would be wasteful not to utilize him."

 _Wasteful._ They knew that was the magic word with him. All the same, Arthur frowned. The last time Alfred attended one of these meetings, he looked as though he would faint. Arthur had been careful to try to keep him away from the more unsavory parts of the Watchers since then, lest he scare him away completely. "He is currently busy in R&D," he replied.

"No offense, sir, but doing what exactly?"

At this, Arthur said nothing. He had his suspicions, of course. However, that was not for the ears of his officers. "It's been a long night. Dismissed," he said, waving his team away. He headed back to his own quarters, rubbing his eyes as he wandered into his darkened rooms.

It was nearly two in the morning, when he came back to the bedroom. In his sleepiness, he almost thought he imagined the white ivory limbs curled up in the soft blue sheets. Then he remembered and his heart swelled with aching affection. As carefully as he could, he disrobed and slid into the bed beside his sleeping lover. The boy twitched and mumbled, letting out a faint whine of complaint. "M'Artie?" A blue eye cracked open, sweet and tired.

"Shhh, shhh," Arthur hushed softly, brushing his fingers over the fringe of the blond bangs. "Go back to sleep, my darling."

The vampire complied, fisting a hand around the sheets, like a babe around a security blanket. Arthur smiled, slipping into the bed beside him. He wrapped an arm around Alfred's shoulders, falling asleep almost instantly in the familiar and comforting coolness.

~o~

The next morning, Arthur woke up to an empty bed. At first, he wondered if he had merely imagined having Alfred sleeping beside him, before recalling that he simply did not dream anymore. A flash of terror flew through him and he was suddenly wide awake.

 _Where is he?!_ his heart screamed as he bolted from bed.

The Watcher stopped short as he heard a clatter coming from the kitchen. He was still out of sight, his breath sharp as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. The soft clap of the fridge closing, water spouting from the tap, the flick of the stove turning on. Yes, these were the right kinds of sounds.

 _Calm down,_ he thought, pressing his brow against the frame of a door. _Do not let him see you like this._ Willing himself into into a calm unflappable exterior, he waited until he didn't come off as absolutely deranged, before he stepped out into the open area of the living room and kitchen.

As expected, Alfred was puttering around in the kitchen, heating up a bag of blood in a water pot the way that he liked it. He wore merely boxers, letting Arthur drink in the sight of all that ivory skin muddled with evidence of their lovemaking. "I see you've found your way around," Arthur smiled as he strode up to the breakfast bar.

Alfred gave a tiny jolt, the way he always did when Arthur managed to sneak up on him. Not that he meant to startle him. He just had light footing. Whirling around, Alfred rewarded him with an annoyed look, but then turned back to his task. "Figured you'd have blood up here for me. It wouldn't be like you to forget something like that." He paused in his work and then frowned over his shoulder. " _Where_ do you get all this blood anyway?"

"Willing donors," Arthur assured him, coming up behind Alfred to give him a peck on the cheek. He reveled in the simple joy of being able to do so. Without having his reclaimed love lash out at him. Trying his luck, he wrapped an arm around the boy's waist, resting a cheek on top of Alfred's shoulder. They fit together so well, just like two puzzle pieces. "You should come back to bed..." he purred, his warm breath sending a delicious tremble through the vampire.

"God, how are you still such a horndog?" Alfred griped, but allowed himself to be pulled back into the bedroom.

~o~

That evening, Alfred sat up in bed, sipping a bag of blood like a Capri Sun. Every bit of him was sore and sated, as he watched Arthur doze next to him. The man looked so innocent like this, young, content, satisfied.

A coil of guilt built in the pit of his stomach, feeling like a fraud for jumping into bed with him so quickly. He still wasn't sure where his heart was with Arthur (even though his body seemed to be making all kinds of decisions on his own). Yet here he was, literally falling into bed with him because that's what Arthur wanted. Because making Arthur happy, using him, got him what he needed. Because... because part of him was also terrified at the thought of Arthur dying.

 _Am I becoming like him?_

As though still acting of their own accord, his fingers reached out to brush a lock of soft gray-blond hair out of Arthur's eyes. His dead heart ached, wondering (not for the first time) if he could just take Arthur away somewhere, anywhere, where they could just _be_ together. Make him forget about all this and let the Watchers fall to their own ruin.

If only they could just...

The body stirred underneath his hand. He brought his fingers away, but longer, slender ones brushed along his knuckles in a small caress. One lazy green eye opened, soon followed by a smile that took Alfred's breath away. Arthur turned toward him, sheets rustling as he wrapped an arm around Alfred's waist. "Hungry?" he asked, nodding up to Alfred's cup.

"Just a snack," the vampire replied. "For _some_ reason, I've spent a lot more energy than usual today." Arthur looked positively smug at that. He nestled in more, as if wrapping himself up in the moment of peace.

After a comfortable silence, the Watcher decided to break it. "Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you..." Arthur hesitated, turning his face away as he rested a cheek on the vampire's thigh. "Would you consider working in Administration? In the cyber security division?"

Alfred was glad the younger man couldn't see his expression. "Arthur..." he said, pained.

"Nothing unsavory," the Watcher assured him quickly. "I have been doing all that I can to limit your exposure to such things. You needn't be involved in that. However..." Alfred waited anxiously, his stomach in knots as he waited for Arthur to elaborate. After a sigh, Arthur continued, "I know the Earth matters to you. People matter to you. If you wanted to help find any weak points in the programs for the wind farms or the nuclear reactors." Alfred stayed staunchly silent. "You don't have to..." he added softly, unaware of the memory that was playing out in the vampire's mind.

 _Two days prior..._

" _So Bill," Alfred said, in the most casual way that he could, as he sipped something hot and red from his mug. "Do people in R &D ever hang out with people in different departments? Seems like everyone's pretty split up in all these different buildings."_

" _Well, sure. Sometimes," Henchman replied as he took a huge bite of his lunch. "I'm in a softball league with a bunch of folks from Admin and Agri. Mostly the desk jockeys. The actual guards are more into more aggro sports like rugby."_

 _Alfred let out a musing hum. "Desk jockeys. Does cyber fall in that category?"_

" _Well sure, got a few friends in that-" Henchman stopped short as Alfred grabbed his soft chin, tilting his gaze upwards._

" _I'm going to need a favor from you, Bill," the vampire spoke, as his eyes sharpened._

"...I can consult," Alfred said reluctantly. "Maybe," he added more firmly, getting a little more fire into his tone. It was what Arthur would expect. He wasn't lying when he added, "My project gets top priority though. Any of your special environmental projects are not as important." More hesitantly, he conceded, "I'll take a look tomorrow."

The watcher frowned only briefly at this, but relaxed into a smile. "Good. I'm glad you're getting more involved. Just like you used to." With that, he settled back into a restive state, enjoying the way that Alfred's fingers stroked his hair.

Alfred was glad the younger man couldn't see his expression.

.

.

 _Am I becoming like him?_


End file.
